Several Dances
by localsportsteam
Summary: Three sisters - Aurora, Rapunzel, and Ariel – have always seemed to be very lucky. But, due to a terrible curse from Maleficent, each face terrible trials. Each would give up all their privilege for a simple life – one like the life of maid Belle. Each searches for happiness, love, but as the curses grow more consequential, can they find a way to be rid of them forever?
1. Chapter 1

**_Fifteen years prior_**

"Evil, sustained by its own being, is tempered from the earth with the arrival of Good." With this final sentiment, the priest sprinkled water upon the baby's head as she squirmed happily. The new baby, Princess Ariel, was held up to the admiration of the kingdom – including her parents and two sisters, Aurora and Rapunzel.

Everyone of importance was at the christening – the queen had seen to the invitations and double-checked in order to make sure each member of the nobility and gentry were invited. However, one name was intentionally left off; the name of a woman who was quite determined to attend.

In time, the guests filtered up to pay their respects and greet the youngest princess. After a brief interaction, each member would leave out of the heavy wooden doors of the church. In but an hour, the chapel was empty, save for the royal family. The priest said his last goodbyes, and retreated to his study.

"Shall we head home?" King Stephan asked his wife and she nodded, drawing the children forward.

With a clap of thunder the doors of the chapel burst forth and a woman manifested herself out of a ball of green light – Maleficent. She waved her hand around her staff.

"King Stephen, Queen Leah." She looked at them pointedly. Queen Leah took the baby from the priest, and King Stephen tucked his other two daughters behind him.

"Maleficent," Queen Leah said firmly, quietly. Maleficent's reputation was notorious throughout the kingdom as the mistress of all evil.

"Oh, don't think that hiding them will do you any benefit. I know of Aurora, our queen to be. I know of Rapunzel. And of little Ariel. Of course, I was never allowed to pay my own respects." Maleficent hissed.

"We're very sor-"

Maleficent slammed her staff into the group and another burst of thunder came forth. "Your apologies are too late. Your slights have only grown with time. One christening – perhaps a mistake. Two – perhaps an oversight. But three? I must think that is intentional."

"Now, listen here!" King Stephen stepped forward.

"Hold your tongue, King, before I remove it from you." Maleficent said, lifting her staff once more. "I have come also, to bestow my gifts on the children."

Hopeful for just a moment, Queen Leah asked "So, you're not angry?"

Maleficent smiled, and cast a spell over the three girls. "For Aurora, the first time you wronged me, her gift shall be mild. On her eighteenth birthday she will fall into a deep slumber, unable to rule. But, she can be awakened from this by true love's kiss. For Rapunzel, she will have the ability to heal you and your daughters. But she will be the only source of healing you have. No other earthly remedies will work. And for your Ariel…she shall have to stab the man who loves her three days after he professes his love."

The family was dumbfounded, standing fearfully in silence for a moment before King Stephan yelled 'guards, please, guards!'. But it was too late. She was gone before they reached her, and the spell had already touched the girls too young to understand it.

But they would come to understand, in time.

…

 ** _Present Setting_**

Since birth, Aurora was steeped in matters of state – politics, parties, allies, and enemies. She knew she would be queen one day, and she hoped to rise to meet that challenge. She also knew there were parts she would always enjoy – like balls. She had liked every ball she had ever attended, and was squarely determined to make sure this one would be the same.

But it would be difficult. Aurora stood next to her mother in the ballroom as servants hung up bunting and smoothed tablecloths on tables.

"Do you like the flowers, dear?" Queen Leah asked. She was willing to indulge her daughter on most any decoration – after all, this _was_ her engagement ball.

"The flowers are lovely." Aurora said. "All the decorations are. But you know that's not what I'm concerned about."

"I'm not sure why you're concerned about anything at all." Queen Leah sighed. "After all, you're approaching the happiest day of your life. A girl only gets married once, you know. God willing."

"But I don't _know_ him, mother."

"Don't be silly. We've known the family for centuries. You've been engaged to the prince since you were a toddler."

"Yes, that's true but I don't know him at all! I've never met him, or exchanged a letter, or even seen a painting of him."

Queen Leah paused. "Some of those would have been manageable – why did you wait so long to bring this up?"

Aurora shrugged. "I'm not sure. Would it have changed anything?"

"No." Leah looked over at the bouquet that was placed by her. "You know why we set up the engagement in the first place."

Of course. The curse that was placed on her, when she was too young to remember. It had always been a part of her life – when she was eighteen, she would fall into a deep slumber that could only be broken by her true love's kiss. And who loved you more than your husband? The prince was informed of this, but few other nobility knew of her curse – or her sisters' curses. Though Aurora had always been assured that it wasn't her fault, and that she hadn't been cursed for doing anything wrong, her mother always seemed to have an air of shame around it.

"Yes, I know mother." Aurora said gently. "I just wish I knew him more."

"Well, his parents didn't want to tell him of the engagement until he got to marriable age. As the younger prince, his parents wanted him to have as normal of a childhood as possible."

"But he's going to have to help run the kingdom as well." Aurora pointed out.

"That's true. And his parents have raised him with that in mind, I'm sure. I think they worried about him possibly resenting the whole process, I don't know. We've kept up good contact with the family, but most of it has been unrelated to your engagement. That was all done up years ago."

"Just give me some time to get to know him first, okay?" Aurora asked.

Queen Leah paused. "That's fine. He won't propose at the ball, or before. Just make sure that the proposal is soon. Your eighteenth birthday is fast approaching-"

"I know, I know." Aurora hummed. "Thank you, though."

Queen Leah smiled. "I've known this family my whole life. They've raised good children, they are good people. I promise I've made the best possible match for you, though I'm sorry it had to be this way."

"You just couldn't risk it." Aurora nodded. If no one had fallen in love with her before her birthday, her chance of being awoken would be slim to none. This was a far easier solution. It would be like taking a quick, but mandatory, nap. That's all. Her curse was far more palatable than Ariel's.

"Why don't you go see what your sisters are doing?" Queen Leah said, rising. "I'm going to go check in the kitchens."

"Okay!" Aurora said, headed upstairs. She stood up at the top of the stairs, overlooking the ballroom, much like she would when she was presented as an engaged woman, or when her bridal reception started. Quietly, so only she could hear, she tested the world. "Presenting the bride and groom…Princess Aurora…and Prince Eric."

…

Belle stretched up, wishing the ladder could somehow stretch with her. There was a whole shelve of books she had somehow missed! She stretched up on her tiptoes and grabbed the bottom of the spine, very gently trying to not too much pressure on it – she didn't want it to tear.

"Belle, dear?"

Shoot! Belle gave one quick jerk with her pointer finger and let the book tumble into her arms.

"Belle? Are you in here again, love?"

"Yes!" Belle scurried down the ladder, reaching the bottom by the time Mrs. Potts figured out exactly where she was.

"Belle, you're supposed to be with the washerwomen! What're you doing in here?"

"Oh, is it eleven already?" Belle looked around for a clock. "I'm so sorry, I can stay later today."

"Now dear, don't worry about it. Cassandra was on hand, so we sent her over. But you've been losing track of time often these past few months – that isn't like you. Is everything alright? Are you feeling well?"

"Oh, Mrs. Potts." Belle sighed. Mrs. Potts was always so kind. "I feel fine I'm just a little…restless, that's all."

"I would've thought living with your father would've kept you very busy indeed." Mrs. Potts looked at Belle's arms. "As well as rummaging through the Queen's things!"

"I wasn't rummaging!" Belle insisted. "And I was going to give it back, just as soon as I was done."

"I know, dear. You're no thief. But tell me, what can be done about this restlessness?"

"I just feel cooped up in the castle sometimes. And I know this is a wonderful job, and I am so grateful for it! I just wish sometimes I could go beyond it, and see something more exciting."

Mrs. Potts paused for a moment. "Sadly, we don't have too much work for daredevils and adventurous girls." She chuckled. "But we do have something that would allow you out in town."

"Really?" Belle asked excitedly. "What is it?"

…

Ariel looped her skirts over her arm as she stooped to pluck a shell from the water. She examined it carefully to make sure there were no little creatures using it as a home. Finding none, she dropped the shell in her bag and waded deeper.

There was a pressing feeling that there was somewhere she had to be, or something she had to do, but neither her parents nor her governess, Carlotta, had been out to yell at her yet so she figured she at least hadn't _missed_ anything yet.

Besides, thanks to her curse, she wasn't obligated to be at many things anyways. Her parents feared putting her in groups of people in case someone were to fall in love with her. Ariel was still sometimes annoyed by it, being kept out from small parties or forced to go up to bed early at balls. She was so often supervised at these events that they weren't that much fun anyway. She could speak with her sisters, or her small group of friends, but never anyone new.

Ariel understood why it had to be this way, of course. Her greatest fear was her curse coming true, and being forced to take a life, especially the life of someone who loved her – and someone whom she may even love back. She didn't know exactly how the curse would work, or how hard it would be to resist, if possible at all. She hoped she would never find out.

Another shell – no friend in this one either. She put it in her little red bag and continued on. She had given up on holding her hem, being waist-deep in the water at this point. Pushing her hair back, she dove under, enjoying her time in the water. She closed her eyes and held her breath and swam as far forward as she could before having to come up for air. She flipped her hair back and waited for the water to run past her eyes. When she opened them, there were sails on the horizon.

Oh. That's what was happening today.

…

"What's Ariel doing?" Aurora asked, re-braiding Rapunzel's hair.

Rapunzel looked out the window. "Is she okay?"

"Yes, she's fine! She's just six feet deep in the water."

Rapunzel laughed. "She's such a goof sometimes. I hope she'll stay close to shore."

"She'll be fine – probably looking for shells. Lord knows she has enough."

"My dress is almost done for your ball!" Rapunzel said excitedly, standing up once Aurora tied the ribbon at the bottom of her braid.

"Lemme see!"

Rapunzel revealed a full-skirted lavender gown. It was off the shoulder, with ruffles at the hem of both her sleeves and skirt.

"Oh, it's beautiful!" Aurora exclaimed, rushing forward and examining the embroidery on the bodice more closely. "This must've taken you forever!"

"I'm pretty quick at embroidery now, actually!" Rapunzel said proudly, running her fingers over the tiny birds and flowers.

"I think I know why you won't let any of the seamstresses do your gowns." Aurora laughed. "You're so good at this. Honestly, Rapunzel, it's the loveliest dress I've ever seen."

Rapunzel shrugged humbly. "Well, you know. It gives me something to do."

Aurora looked over at Rapunzel sadly, just as there were two sharp raps at the door. "Come in!" both girls echoed.

Carlotta opened the door and peered in. "Dears, it seems the prince is arriving!"

Aurora felt her heart stop in her chest. Prince Eric was here. In weeks they would be married. After years of knowing, years of waiting, she still didn't feel prepared. But that didn't matter. No matter how she felt she still had to march downstairs and meet the man who would break her curse.

…

Belle couldn't believe her good fortune! Out of all the places to be sent to, she was supposed to spend today in a book store. Queen Leah really loved to read – as evidenced by her library – and Belle's job was to pick out a few new books for her. What an honor! What a way to spend a day. Belle had been in every bookshop in town, but from a young age she had become enamored with a quaint bookshop run by an old man, and usually did most of her shopping there, when she could afford new books. Sometimes, if he was in an extraordinarily good mood, he would even let her have them for free! The two of them could sit in the shop and talk for hours about their favorite stores, analyzing books and plays and poems until the sun set and he had to go home for supper with his family. Belle knew that a more middle-aged man ran the book shop she would be in today and while she knew they wouldn't have the same warmth that there was between her and the old bookseller, she hoped they could get along as well.

'Beaumont Booksellers' was etched into a swinging sign above the door. Belle took a deep breath and pushed the door in, reveling in the dusty smell that could only mean piles of books. The shop was poorly lit, but inviting in its own way.

"Hello?" she called out.

No response.

"Hello?" she said again. "I'm here on behalf of Queen Leah-"

"Hello." A deep voice came from behind some bookshelves.

"Hi! I'm Belle-"

"Why did the queen send you?" he asked gruffly.

"Well I work in the castle and-"

"I don't need your entire life story. Why are you here?"

"I'm at the _bookstore_ to buy _books_." Belle said snarkily.

"Alright, well then pick out the queen's books." He said dismissively.

Belle sneered a little. He was so _rude_!

Belle decided to ignore this, however, and picked a disorganized shelf of books that was far, far away from him. She criss-crossed her legs and sat down, holding a book to her nose and breathing in it's smell. "Book-y" she mumbled, giggling a little. No grumpy workers could ruin this for her!

"Where did you- hey!"

Belle whipped her head to the side as the bookseller locked eyes with her again.

"What're you doing? They're not for you to _touch_!" he snapped.

"It's a book!" Belle exclaimed, waving the book it little. "They're meant to be touched! How else would you read them?"

"Well yes I _know_ that, I do run this book store-"

"You're the _owner_?" Belle interrupted.

He furrowed his brow and pointed at himself. "Adam Beaumont." He pointed at a sign hung up above the front desk. "Beaumont Booksellers."

"I've been in here before. The person who owns this shop was, like, fifty-"

"My father."

"What happened to-"

"He died. Any more invasive questions?" He snapped, glaring at Belle.

"I'm sorry, but you don't have to snap at me." Belle said, glaring right back at him. How could she have known?

Adam snatched the book from her hand. "Regardless, don't touch them. You're going to break the spines."

"There's no wonder no one is in here, if this is how you treat all your customers!" Belle exclaimed.

"Just the ones who come in and start snatching books as if they already own them!"

"I have to get books for the queen! The _queen_!"

"Are you trying to pull rank on me? Is this the military? Should I salute?" Adam said sarcastically.

"If you're going to be rude, then I'm going to just go!" Belle threw her hands back and stood up, marching out of the shop.

"Good!" Adam yelled after her.

Belle grabbed three books that were just sitting on the shelf. "And I'm taking these!" she yanked open the door. "Send your bill to the queen!" the door crashed shut behind her, sending the bell of ringing.

Adam stood, arms crossed, fuming, until the ringing of the bell ceased to the silence he was far more comfortable in.

Belle angrily stomped back to the castle, books tucked under her arm. She peaked at what she had gotten – MacBeth, King Lear, and Othello. That must've been the Shakespeare shelf. That was a bit of a lucky break – almost everyone liked Shakespeare. Even if Queen Leah had already read them, she'd surely be happy to read them again.

Taking a deep breath, Belle calmed herself. Sure, Adam was rude and hot-tempered, but there was another bookshop in town and she never had to see him again. She had never met him before, so he must not be in town very often. She scoffed. Probably too anti-social.

Eventually, she reached the castle, and took the books straight to Mrs. Potts.

"Oh, find anything good, dear?" Mrs. Potts asked cheerfully.

"Yes, I found some plays. She may've already read them, but I figured I should probably figure out what the queen likes to read before branching out too much."

"That's fine, these look lovely, thank you." Mrs. Potts said happily. "And I'm sure you'll find even better stuff tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow?" Belle exclaimed. "I thought this was just my task for today!"

"Oh no!" Mrs. Potts shook her head. "We're constantly trying to fill up those bookshelves, and Queen Leah sends books to many of her friends. We can never have enough!"

"Well," Belle asked gently, trying to seem ungrateful. After all, Mrs. Potts probably thought this was her dream job. "Do I have to get books only from Beaumont Booksellers?"

"Well the other shop in town hardly ever has much of anything, dear." Mrs. Potts placed she books down and began rifling through some papers. "You can check there, I suppose, but you'll have to go back to Beaumont. That Adam has real knack for finding books!"

Belle bit her lip.

"I'm so happy you had such a successful day! I knew this task would be perfect for you."

…

Aurora clasped her hands together and took a deep breath to steady herself. Prince Eric's ship had just docked a minute ago, and she watched people begin to disembark. She didn't even know what her future husband looked like! But as a crowd of people moved towards her, two men took the front. One was tall, with brown hair and a blue tunic. The other was darker haired and darker skinned, in a white linen shirt. Both were certainly attractive, but her preference took right away. She just didn't dare to move to one, for fear her husband would be the other.

"Oh, Prince Eric. It's so delightful to have you hear." Queen Leah stepped forward and offered her hand to the black-haired one.

"Queen Leah, it's a pleasure to meet you. My mother says we've met before, but I'm afraid I was far too young to remember. She sends her love. My father does as well."

"I will be sure to write them straightaway, let them know of your safe return." Queen Leah took a step back, and King Stephan paid his respects as well.

"May I introduce my daughter, Aurora."

Eric did a quick scan of the three daughters. They all looked to be roughly the same age – one had beautiful green eyes and an impressive head of hair. One stood tall and poised. The last was dripping wet and gave him a weak smile that was not quite an apology, not quite a challenge. He couldn't help but smile a little. But Queen Leah gestured towards the tallest one, and Eric took that to mean this was his wife.

"Lovely to meet you, Aurora." He kissed her hand.

"You as well, Eric."

"And may I introduce my right-hand man?" Eric placed a hand on the brown-haired boy's back and pushed him forward. "This is Duke Philip. We basically grew up together. I don't know if I've spent a day apart from him."

"Your highness, lovely to meet you." Duke Philip kissed Aurora's hand, and then greeted her two sisters, and then her parents.

"It's lovely to meet you as well, Philip." Aurora said. "These are my sisters, Rapunzel and Ariel."

Eric chuckled again at Ariel's state.

"I do hope you'll forgive my sister." Aurora said, a little embarrassed. "She's just come from the sea."

"Yeah." Eric laughed again. "I can see that."

"Well, lunch is approaching soon and I'm sure you're all positively famished!" Queen Leah said cordially, trying to break any lingering awkwardness. "Aurora, why don't you show Eric around the grounds a bit? Just for an hour or so?"

…

Adam angrily tucked the books just where they had been before. Who was she, just barging in here? Grabbing books? Yelling at him for trying to run his store, his way? Interrupting what he was in the middle of?

Shaking his head and pushing some one the books of the top of a shelf, Adam stomped towards the back of the store. At least she was gone now, right? And after the way he treated her, he highly doubted she would ever come back.

Returning to his fathers – uh, now his – office, Adam sat down in the desk chair again. He pulled out the one portrait his family had been able to afford commissioning. It was faded, and torn a bit in a corner, but it was still lovely.

One year ago, today. Adam thought sadly. _It's already been a year…_

…

"So, Eric?" Aurora asked. "How was your trip over? I hope it wasn't too terribly long."

"Oh, not at all!" Eric said cheerfully. "If anything, I wish I could've extended it a few days." His face dropped quickly when he realized how she could take that. "Not that I wasn't excited to get here. Because I was. To meet you. But I just like sailing, that's all I meant."

Aurora giggled a little. "I'm glad the trip was smooth. Here, let me take you through the gardens."

"The trip wasn't too far – only three days – and each day was just _perfect_ sailing weather!" Eric exclaimed. "The wind in your hair, the salt in your face – it really just makes you happy to be alive, doesn't it?"

"Oh yes, I'm sure." Aurora agreed to be polite – she didn't care too much for the water. But Eric seemed to love it a lot, so she didn't want to insult him.

"Hey, maybe we could go out sailing sometime? Maybe tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow is the ball."

"Right! A different time."

"Yes, a different time." Aurora politely agreed again.

"Great." Eric ran his hands over a flowering bush in the garden. "So, uh, tell me about yourself."

"What would you like to know?"

"Anything, really. My mother has told me a bit about you, but, obviously, we haven't really talked. I know you're a year older than I am, that some of your embroidery is hanging in the great hall. You like riding horses and spend a lot of time outside. But that's about all I know."

Aurora nodded. "Well, that's all true, so that's good. I don't get to spend nearly as much time as I'd like now, just on account of not being a child anymore. If I'm going to be queen then I have to be well-prepared, so I spend a lot of my days with my tutors, or brushing up on my history in the library, or shadowing my parents."

Eric nodded. "That sounds like a lot of work."

"Well, I'm sure your upbringing was similar."

Eric shrugged at this. "In a way. I had tutors, of course, and I do like to read, but my older brother is first in line for the throne so I suppose I never had the same pressure as you. Of course, I'll be helping you run the country, so I did have my own lessons and I've prepared and all. But was your land and your people before I ever got here, so I guess I always figured you'd be taking the lead."

Aurora shrugged a little. "I suppose that's true."

"The gardens are very lovely. It's clear a lot of work has gone into them."

"Oh, yes!" Aurora exclaimed. "I oversee most of the gardening work. We have people in here every day, except for winter."

"They're beautiful!" Eric smiled. "Are the beaches nearby? We brought a small sailboat with us as well, and I'm trying to see where I can take it out."

"They're down there." Aurora waved. "I think I better get inside and see how the food is coming along."

…

Rapunzel loved helping out in the kitchens – it gave her something else to do. And so many wonderful things happened in a kitchen – cookies were made, veggies were stewed, hams were roasted. There were dangers in the kitchen as well, and while Rapunzel was hyper-conscious of this, she figured it was a risk worth taking. After all, she couldn't miss out on _all_ of life just to keep herself safe, right?

"Stuff is coming along great!" Rapunzel said cheerfully as Aurora walked into the kitchen.

"Great!" Aurora said, leaning against the counter next to Rapunzel.

"Careful." Rapunzel pointed to a nearby knife.

"Oh." Aurora said, shifting a little. "Well, what do you think of Eric?"

"He's cute!" Rapunzel said optimistically. "And so is the duke."

"Yeah…yeah!" Aurora said, trying to keep up her enthusiasm.

"Did you guys go on a nice walk?" Rapunzel asked kindly, chopping some vegetables.

Aurora grabbed the knife that was by her and grabbed a carrot to help Rapunzel. She didn't understand why Rapunzel liked cooking so much, but she felt odd standing idly.

"So, you do like him, right?"

"I mean he is cute. And perfectly nice. Was kind enough on our walk. But it has only been, you know, fifteen minutes. About ten of which he used to talk about the ocean." Aurora rolled her eyes, stopped cutting, and leaned against the counter again.

"He has a passion."

"Yes, well, why couldn't the passion be for something more interesting? I can't believe I'm going to have to spend the rest of my life pretending to like sand in my hair and water on face, or whatever it was that he said."

"Maybe-"

"And I don't know anything of his upbringing! Yes, he's a prince, and he was raised to act like one. And I don't mean to imply that he doesn't have any manners of something because he certainly does, but he's a second born and his brother is the intended for the throne. Why couldn't I have married him?"

"Because he's already married."

"Details. I'm sure that being cursed by a witch has lowered my stock, or whatever, but I feel like our parents could've held out for a first born, maybe from a less prominent country. And he's so young!"

"I think being cursed by a witch make us more interesting!" Rapunzel said, grabbing another carrot to cut.

"I don't care what it makes us, I'll just be glad when I can get my kiss and get this whole curse out of the way."

Rapunzel wanted to say something here. It was terrible with the second worst curse. Aurora's was ominous and high stakes, but after only one kiss she would be free of it forever. Once her marriage to Eric was sorted, it would only really affect her for a day. Not even. An hour. Maybe just a minute, if she woke up straightaway. She had to carry the burden of knowing she was the only source of physical healing for her family, ever. They had no other ability to care for themselves. Even small injuries turned life-threatening, as bandages and medicine were ineffective. She could make her family better in seconds, but that pressure was forever on her shoulders. And how was she to complain when there was a worse curse? Ariel could never know romantic love, as she was cursed to kill whoever proclaimed their love for her three days after they said it. She was kept from events, and ushered away from any available men. How could she complain?

So instead she just nodded and agreed. "It'll all be over for you soon."

"Oh, Rapunzel. I'm sorry." Aurora said quickly, somehow still picking up on everything Rapunzel was thinking. "I didn't mean to be so insensitive."

"Oh, not at all!" Rapunzel said. "You're going through a lot right now."

"It's just-" Aurora flicked her wrist, forgetting she was holding the knife, and sent it sailing at her feet. "Ow!" she exclaimed, yanking up her skirts. The knife had cut her ankle.

"Here!" Rapunzel said, pulling out her braid.

Aurora lifted up her leg. While the cut itself was not terribly deep she did not have the ability to heal herself so her blood did not clot, and ran over the cut and down her hems. Rapunzel wrapped her hair around it and it began to glow, healing the cut within seconds.

"Please, be careful!"

"Thank you, Punzie." Aurora said, hugging her sister.

Rapunzel sighed. "You're welcome. I think we've done enough for one day. I think I'm gonna go paint."

…

"You've gotta be careful around here!"

Eric turned at the sound of this warning and the splashing that accompanied it.

"Ariel!" He laughed again.

"I'm serious!" she exclaimed, ducking so she was shoulder deep in the water. "There's a patch of coral like four feet from you. Don't step in it."

"Oh!" Eric said, craning his head to see that, between seaweed, there in fact was.

"What're you doing here – I thought you and Aurora were taking a stroll?" Ariel asked, plucking out another shell and holding it up to her eye.

"We did!" Eric said, pulling off his boots and wading into the water. "What're you doing?"

"I'm working on a project – I glue shells on basically everything in my room." Ariel held open her canvas bag to reveal several other shells.

"Oh wow!"

"My mom probably wouldn't be fond of that, but she doesn't know, so it's okay."

"Do you put it on jewelry boxes?"

"Yeah, but those are all covered. Right now I need tiny ones to glue to my wall."

"You might not want to let the queen see that, yeah." Eric chuckled, but pulled up a few shells and tipped them into her back.

"She usually doesn't come into my room. Something about ignorance being bliss."

Eric chuckled again and shook his head. She was funny. "Won't your mother be upset about you being wet for lunch? It's pretty soon, I think, and you are quite literally immersed in the ocean."

"This is true!" Ariel agreed. "And she wasn't thrilled when I met you like this – sorry."

"Don't apologize, it was funny."

Ariel smiled. "But in my defense, I did forget that you guys were coming in today."

"It was either going to be today or tomorrow – the sailing just happened to be extra good."

"So, I figure, I've already gotten my share of wrath. And you don't seem to care. I'll change dresses, of course, but my hair is going to be soaked no matter if I get out now, or if I got out an hour ago."

"That seems reasonable enough. Your hair is very long." Eric nodded. While Ariel moved quickly – all graceful little darts, her hair got caught in the water and dragged for a few seconds behind her.

"I see you brought a sailboat." Ariel continued. "Well, you came in a big one. But I saw you dragged a smaller one behind you."

"That's true."

"Is it up for grabs?"

"What do you mean?"

"Can I use it?"

"Do you know how to sail?"

"I know enough." Ariel nodded, confidently. "I've been out a few times, and done it by myself twice."

"Alright, just let someone go with you. At least the first few times."

"Okay, you can come with. It is your boat, after all, I suppose you're implicitly invited."

…

"Oh, Aurora!"

Aurora paused and turned to see Philip walking up towards her.

"I mean, Princess." He bowed.

She curtseyed.

"A-are you okay?" he asked quickly, pointing at the blood at her hem.

Aurora yanked back her hems, having already forgot about the incident in the kitchen. Injuries were common and gory around here – especially with the sort of antics that Ariel found time to regularly get into.

"Oh, oops!" Aurora said, trying to be as nonchalant as one could be with a skirt covered in blood. "I just had a small cut. It's taken care of, I'm fine. Thank you, though."

"Good, I'm glad." Philip nodded. "May I have a minute of your time?"

"Of course."

"Well, I just wanted to introduce myself properly. I am Duke Philip, I am the prince's 'right hand man', so to say."

"Lovely to meet you."

"It will be my job to help organize everything for the wedding and your marriage."

"Oh, there isn't a wedding officially. Yet." Aurora said quickly.

Philip smiled. "I am aware, Princess Aurora. Whenever you are ready to proceed with the union, simply let me know and will tell Eric to propose." Philip paused, as if he was waiting for Aurora to give him the go-ahead now.

"Very well." Aurora said diplomatically.

Philip gave her a quick nod. "Well, I do not intend to monopolize your time, Princess Aurora." He turned, but Aurora almost immediately called him back.

"Philip!" she said, and paused. "Please, just call me Aurora."

…

Their midday meal passed without incident. Ariel's hair dripped onto the floor, to the clear but silent discontent of Queen Leah. Aurora conversed with the two people to her side – Eric and Philip – alternating between the two. Rapunzel brought her lizard to the table again, feeding him bits of carrot she had chopped up. Queen Leah decided to let this go as well.

After eating, each party retired to their respective rooms for a midday rest.

Eric and Philip lounged for a bit, both too excited about their new prospects to sleep.

"So, what do you think of everything?" Philip asked.

"It's really beautiful here." Eric said, leaning back. "I knew it was bigger than our kingdom but…wow. This palace? Their coast is fantastic! I was admiring it coming in. They've got these huge sandy beaches that go up forever – landing boats but be as easy as flipping your wrist."

Philip smiled. Leave it to Eric to study the landing beaches and water before anything else. "I mean more of the marriage situation. What do you think of Aurora?"

"She's a sweet girl." Eric nodded.

"Yes, she's lovely, isn't she?"

"I don't really know her all that well, Eric. We went for a walk and had a meal together."

"I know. I was more asking for first impression." Philip said, resting his cheek in his hand.

"She's very pretty." Eric nodded. "And she seems very nice. Very poised. Queenly."

"She's been readying herself to be queen her whole life."

"And if that doesn't terrify me, I don't know what does." Eric laughed.

"What do you mean?"

"I thought I lucked out by being second born." Eric said. "Of course I'll help her run the country, I don't want anything bad to happen to her people or mine, and it should have to be all on her shoulders, but, God, I don't want to be king."

Review, please! :)


	2. Chapter 2

Three thieves met at night, huddled around a tree shallowly in the forest. Sometimes, a rendition of one of their faces would be nailed to it. It gave them a bit of a soft spot for it – not that they had soft spots, of course.

"Are you sure you can do this, Rider?"

Flynn cocked his head to the side. "Have I ever failed you guys?"

The thieves, twin brothers, gave each other a knowing look.

"I mean when it's important!"

The same look was exchanged.

"Yes! I am sure!" Flynn crossed his arms and glared at his…his…well he didn't much know what to call them. They weren't his family, or his friends. They were barely partners. They were people he met in a run-down tavern, who called themselves the Stabbington Brothers.

Flynn had laughed at their names – hey, he thought they were kidding! Stabbington! I mean, come on! But, as it turns out, that was their genuine, God-given last name and they didn't much appreciate Flynn making fun of it. After they had him pressed against the wall, he diffused the situation by offering a partnership; his services. He didn't think that they'd actually take him up on it. Then again, he also didn't think they could actually be named Stabbington. Can't win 'em all, right?

"You better get us this, Rider."

"Believe me, I understand." Flynn said. "I sneak in, I kidnap the princess – any of them, there's three, that's good odds – and then we have the ultimate point of leverage."

"We've spent our lives doing these petty crimes, and we've got most nothing to show for it."

"Well I can have you both labeled as notorious thieves in a second! A nanosecond – no, I don't think that's been invented yet – a second!" Flynn said.

The brothers were unnervingly silent, as they commonly were.

"The ball is tonight."

"I know."

"You are not invited."

"I know!"

"You will have to stay hidden."

"I know! I know! Geez, you'd think I had never committed a crime before."

"We know you've committed crimes. We also know you're on our last nerve." The left Stabbington brother said – Flynn was never really able to distinguish between the two of them. "Which, as far as we're concerned, is the only crime that deserves to be punished."

"Okay…" Flynn trailed off, waiting for them to get the threats out of their system.

"Keep in mind tonight, Rider. You can botch this job, you can blow our cover. But we have no loyalty to you, and no reason to forgive. We'll do what it takes to see you undone."

…

Belle had never felt nervous going into a bookshop before. Ever. But now that she knew she was permanently – or at least perpetually – assigned to work in a bookstore with that ever-infuriating Adam, she couldn't untangle her nerves from her anger. How dare he snap at her like that? And how dare he make her uneasy in her greatest place of comfort?

Just let him cross her. Just once. She would put him right in his place! With confidence and vigor she pushed the door to Beaumont Bookseller's open, letting the bell rattle for a few seconds as she looked around.

Adam looked up at her, standing there blazing, and gave her a polite nod. "Good morning." He said.

 _Good morning_? Belle was prepared for everything from him barking 'Get out! Now!' to an eyeroll and a scoff, because of course this man would behave in a beastly way, of course, because he was a rude and unkind man and always would act that way.

"Good morning?" she said, half in anger and half like a question.

He gave her a quizzical look, but even she couldn't fault him for that.

"Good morning." She said, more as the greeting it was supposed to be.

"What books does Queen Leah want today?"

"I never know what she wants – my entire job is figuring it out."

"God, can you imagine having a staff so large you have one person in charge of just picking out books for you?" Adam scoffed a little.

"Sounds like it'd be nice." Belle said, surveying the store. "So, is there anything I'm not allowed to touch?" she meant for her tone to sound more annoyed, but it came out like a courtesy.

"No specific section – besides my office!" he added the last part abruptly. Belle was curious and wanted to ask, but figured now would not be the time to begin prying into his life. She didn't care, anyway.

"Alright." She agreed.

"I'll just stick with you – to make sure you mess anything up." He said, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Belle sighed. Great, now she had to spend _more_ time with him.

…

Only one day had passed since his arrival and introduction to his future wife and today, so Eric wasn't sure how he could have changed feelings so quickly. If he was anyone else, he would've chalked it up to the seafaring but he knew damn well that had never bother or confused him. There had to be something else at play here, but either Eric didn't have the words for it or he didn't want to use them.

This ball was going to be a big step, even if he wasn't quite engaged yet. He would be introduced as a fixture of the kingdom – as someone important enough to have this big of a deal made out of him. Rumors would fly instantly, he was sure, and someone was bound to put the pieces together that he was marrying at least one of the daughters. Whether they would assume he was ranked highly enough for the eldest princess was to be determined. It was nerve-wracking, and Eric didn't like nerve-wracking things.

Sure, he could handle them. And sure, he had lived through them. But Eric would've been quite content to dedicate his life to sailing and swimming and mastering the ocean. These things were dangerous but they were also thrilling, and they never made him nervous. Only anxious for more.

He never thought he'd be in this position, where the things he wanted mattered so little now. He wasn't going to just be a support system to his brother, the king. He wasn't going to be the younger, wilder brother. He wasn't going to be the person who'd show up for the right events and shake the hands he had to.

Eric was going to be a king, and he was going to be Aurora's husband. Once her eighteenth birthday came it was only his true love, as her husband, that could break her spell, and return her to a life without a curse, and a life where she could be queen.

Because that's what she was meant to be.

…

Belle was the smartest person that Rapunzel knew. The two had become fast friends – Rapunzel never ran out in the seas, like Ariel, and she didn't have training and lessons to the extent that Aurora did, so she really needed someone to talk to more than anything. How lovely that that someone to talk to became friends.

"Are you coming to the ball tonight?" Rapunzel asked Belle, the two girls sitting in Rapunzel's bedroom.

"I don't know – I'm tired." Belle said, stretching a little.

"You did have a long day." Rapunzel agreed. "I didn't see you at all!"

"I got reassigned." Belle said, with slight annoyance.

"Reassigned?"

"I'm down at Beaumont Booksellers, picking out reading material for the castle."

"Why, that sounds right up your alley!" Rapunzel exclaimed happily. "That's the perfect position for you – and you can borrow anything you want, right?"

Belle giggled a little. "Thank you, yes, but that's not the issue."

"Then what is?"

"Adam Beaumont!" Belle huffed.

"Who?"

"He's the bookseller. He's a terrible, gruff man!"

"What did he do?"

Belle stalled for a minute. "He's got a hell of a temper!"

"Did he yell at you?"

"A little!"

"That's terrible!" Rapunzel said sincerely, sweetly, as she always did. "I'm so sorry to hear that."

Belle settled back a little. "He was nicer today, though. He showed me more of the books, but he was far quieter. I'm not sure why. He would pick some out of the shelves and just hand them to me, and I'd do a more thorough checking after."

"That's not too bad."

Belle tucked a loose curl back into her ponytail. "Not too bad, I guess." She shook her head. "But what are we doing standing around? The ball is so soon!"

…

Rapunzel did always love balls – they were so lively and warm, and it was nice to get a chance to mingle with everybody. She would sometimes new and interesting faces, and have brand new subjects to paint in her journal. This ball was a welcoming ball, and thus very open and there were dozens of guests she had only met once or twice before.

Maybe it was selfish, but she wondered when her chance for a ball would come. So much of her life was cooped up in the castle. She knew it was her choice, and for the best. If one of her sisters – and let's be honest, Ariel was never that careful – was to get hurt, they could be done for! It was too much to consider, that either of her sisters might get hurt because she was selfish and focused too much on herself.

Which is why a ball would be a perfect compromise! They could all stay in the castle, but they'd bring in exciting people and new – hold on. It just caught the corner of her eye – only for a second – but Rapunzel could swear she saw someone creeping down the hall. It was odd – everyone was invited here. No one needed to sneak in or creep away. She softly and circuitously worked her way to the doorframe, squinting a bit to make him out from the shadows. She only had seen him move a little. As she got closer, he dashed off, dressed in clothes more suited to a 16th century fop! She giggled a bit at this – perhaps he had been mistaken, and thought it was a costume ball?

She picked up her skirts and ran after him, braid hitting her back.

"Ha!" she threw open a door she saw shut only a second before. "Gotcha!" she smiled.

She saw a shadow shift against the wall. The sun was setting, but there was still light, so she tugged the drapes open and illuminated a man in a puffed shirt, puffed pants, and a puffy cap (with a feather!).

A stranger.

"Oh!" Rapunzel said softly, surveying him. "Are you lost?"

"No." the man said quickly, then seemed to regret it. "I zmean, zuh, zes!" he said, in a terrible accent. "Mon name es…Pierre! I am new zere, zvery new, and I, hon hon, got a zit zurned around."

Rapunzel folded her arms. Did he think she was stupid? "Oh, yes. Pierre. Where are you from, Pierre?"

"France, zof course! The city of light! The city of love!" He dramatically threw out his arms.

"Mm-hm. And what's your last name?"

He froze, clearly thinking deep. He obviously didn't know a single French last name. His arms drooped, but he threw them out again. "I have zad a zot of wine, mademoiselle!"

Rapunzel laughed. "We haven't even started serving wine." She corrected. "Now tell me who you _really_ are."

"Are you going to call the guards?" he asked, lowering his arms and tensing up.

"No." Rapunzel assured him. "As long as you aren't going to hurt anyone, right?"

He nodded a little. "Right."

"Why are you here? She asked, stepping more into the light.

He stared at her for a moment, and then said. "I was…I was trying to sneak in. Get a trinket and a cool story to tell my friends at the lantern festival, you know?"

"The lantern festival?" Rapunzel asked.

"Rapunzel!" a voice called, sounding not too far away.

"I've gotta go." The man said, making a beeline for the window and yanking it open.

"What festival? What's your name? Is that really why you're here?"

With one foot out the window, he made eye contact with her. "Lantern. Uh, Flynn. No. Bye!" with a quick push, he was gone.

…

Eric couldn't quite put words as to why he was so upset. It wasn't quite anger – there wasn't that hot burning in his head. The heat centered more in his stomach, a slow burn that caused him to stare incessantly at the back of the head of the dark-haired man with his too-white gloves, who was talking to animatedly to Ariel.

The man was waving his hands and when Ariel would speak he would laugh uproariously and then motion his hands some more. He was too far away for Eric to hear what he was saying, but he must've found himself very funny because he would lean in, then lean back and gesticulate, and his mouth would move more and more quickly. Eric wanted to hit his too-quick mouth, just to put a stop to it all.

Ariel dipped her head a little to the side, hair falling past her waist, and gestured to the door, backing a few steps away before he had a chance to reach for her. She turned and walked off, and Eric saw her head out.

"Eric!" Aurora approached him, smiling up at him.

Oh, right. "Aurora, hello." He bowed a little to her.

"I don't know if it's your thing, but we should probably dance." Aurora said, jerking her head a bit to the side.

"Of course, of course." Eric said quickly. He took Aurora's hand and walked with her to the middle of the floor, where the other couples – couples! – were waltzing. "There's not an announcement, or anything like that, tonight – right?"

"No, I don't think so." Aurora shook her head. "I wasn't planning on it, and no one told me they were. "Why, would you like something announced."

"No, it's just all the sea air. Travel, and such. You know. I'm still fairly out of it so I didn't want to make a fool of myself."

"Of course." Aurora nodded, looking over his shoulder. She flushed a little, and looked back up at Eric. "I'd hate to embarrass you. But the time is coming where we'll have to announce." She added.

"I know." Eric nodded. "We'll get to that when we get to that."

Aurora nodded. "Oh yes, there's no pressure there."

"I mean, of course you're turning eighteen soon-"

"You only have to-"

"Of course."

"Of course."

"I'm sorry, uh, excuse me. Just one moment." Eric said quickly, disappearing into the crowd.

Aurora stepped back and sighed, feeling a little deflated, but not disturbed by disappointment. Rather, disturbed by the **lack** of the feeling.

…

"Are you okay?"

Ariel spun around at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. She stepped out of the tide quickly, letting her skirts fall past her knees again.

"Oh, sorry if I disturbed you." Prince Eric put his hands up a little.

"Oh!" Ariel exclaimed, waving her hand. "No, no. I just didn't know anyone knew I was out here."

"I saw you talking to that guy." Eric said, gesturing back towards the castle. "I just wanted to make sure that you were fine; that he didn't say anything rude to you. You left pretty quickly after."

"No, I'm fine!" Ariel insisted. "He was just so talkative!" she rolled her eyes. "But he had nothing to say! He was talking on and on about this book he read, I don't even remember the name, but it was terribly boring – and I had said I hadn't read it, so instead of taking the hint he started describing it in _excruciating_ detail!" she sighed, and swayed a little. "I just needed some air after that."

"Believe me, I understand." Eric laughed. "How long do you think we could stay out here, do you think? That is, if you don't mind company."

In truth, Ariel had never really been around a male she wasn't related to. Her curse was quite clear – as soon as someone declared their love for her, she would have to kill him by sunset on the third day. There was great fear that someone would fall in love with her, even if she did little to stoke it herself, and force the curse to come into play. But Eric was all but engaged to Aurora – he had come here for that one purpose. What harm could there be in being around him?

"Of course not!" Ariel said. "You missed the sunset though."

"Oh, that's a shame. I hear there's one tomorrow, though."

"Oh, you can never be sure. Once I saw two sunrises instead."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, but it was a leap year. You know how those are."

Eric laughed and sat down in the sand, pulling off his boots. "Today would've been a perfect day for sailing. I meant to go out today, but Philip had a bunch of stuff for me to go through, I couldn't escape."

"You know you promised to take me out." Ariel said, picking her skirts up again and wading back into the water. "It's already been a day."

"It's only been a day!" Eric slipped out of his coat and ran into the water, his pants rolled up.

Ariel stooped to pick up a shell. "Do you think it's pretty?" she asked.

"It's lovely."

"You can have it!"

"Oh, tha-"

"When you take me sailing." Ariel yanked it back a little.

"Oh, now you're playing hardball." Eric laughed.

"Belle found a book for me on sailing once – and I read most of it! But it's not the same as the real thing, and my parents never let me sail-"

"Why not?"

"They think it's dangerous."

"Well, it can be. But with me it won't be, I know what I'm doing." Eric promised.

"Good. Exactly." Ariel shifted her weight a little. "I mean, it can be a little dangerous. That'd be fine."

"You want it to be dangerous?"

"If it has to be! Do you know any tricks or anything?"

"Like what, a flip?"

Ariel splashed him.

"Hey!" Eric exclaimed. "I've got to go back inside like this!"

"I know!" Ariel said smugly. "Sass me like that again and I'll take you down."

Eric stooped down and cupped his hands full of water.

"No!" Ariel held out a warning finger.

Eric smirked at her.

"No!"

Eric splashed her.

"Okay, you asked for it!" Ariel laughed, dropping her skirts and splashing him back, soaking through his white linen shirt and ruining his hair. She ran (as best as one can) through the water to get away.

"Hey, I'm not done with you yet!"

"You might as well take me sailing now!" Ariel proclaimed. "I can't possibly get in more trouble than this."

Eric rose up straight. "Okay." He said. "Let's do it."

…

Eric had been gone for several dances, and Aurora hovered awkwardly on the periphery of her own party, getting angrier by the minute. Look, she didn't ask him to be here! She didn't ask for this stupid curse that forced her to compromise her standards and desires in order to get stuck with whatever prince was willing to take one for the team. But her eighteenth birthday was drawing too near, and she couldn't afford to cast off her only shot at love.

"May I have this dance?" Philip slid up next to Aurora.

"Oh, yes." She breathed, taking his hand and walking out with him to the dance floor. "I'm so relieved, you have no idea."

"I'm afraid Eric can be flighty sometimes." Philip mumbled. "You'll have to forgive him. I'm sure he went to get some air and forgot how much he really needs."

"Honestly." Aurora mumbled, though it was clear she was upset.

"But, please, tell me more about you." Philip pushed. "You, uh, or your kingdom. Anything you care to share."

Aurora smiled a little. "I love my little kingdom, I'll tell you anything. We've got about eight thousand people right now, mostly in the villages you can see from the castle."

"It's beautiful here, what I've seen of it at least." Philip nodded. "And you've got that huge stretch of woods surrounding your castle."

Aurora sighed dreamily. "That's my favorite place to be."

"There's a big woods back in my home as well." Philip said. "There's this big open patch I found, only half an hour deep into the woods or so, and there's berries all around. We've been there so many times my horse can smell it, I think."

Aurora giggled. "That sounds beautiful. I'd love to see it someday."

"I'm sure you will! After all, Eric will have to return home sometime and I'm assuming you'll come with."

Aurora dipped her head down and went quiet. Of course. She would have to leave her castle for probably a month to make a proper visit of it. That was a long time to be away from home. She had hardly even thought about what it was really going to mean to be married to Eric. Yes, he would break her spell, but-

Philip sensed her sadness and tilted her chin up a little. "I'm sorry if I said anything to offend, Princess."

"Oh, not at all!" Aurora said quickly, getting back into the dance. "I just remembered some things."

Philip nodded slowly, giving her a chance to continue, but she didn't. So he said "I'm very much looking forward to exploring your kingdom while I'm here. It really is very beautiful. I took a walk down to the village early this morning. It was very charming!"

Aurora smiled again. "I know everything here!" she said as he spun her out. "Let me know if you want a tour."

"I will absolutely take you up on that." Philip breathed, smiling down at her.

…

Eric had untethered the little sailboat from the dock and pushed them off. Ariel positively lit up at this prospect, dipping her hand into the water and tipping her face up to catch the mist.

"I can only imagine what this must look like in the daylight." She sighed.

"We can go back out again then." Eric promised.

"This is a good idea, anyway. We'll dry out her on deck." Her skirt was mostly dry, but the hem was absolutely soaked.

"Yeah!" Eric exclaimed. That's your fault, besides. I'm not getting in trouble for this."

"Oh, who would yell at you? Your mom isn't here."

"That's true," Eric conceded. "But Philip does a very good 'I'm disappointed but not surprised' speech and it really can get to you."

Ariel giggled. "Is he your best friend?"

"Absolutely! And my right hand man. I'm making him out to be more of a buzzkill than he is. We always have a grand time together – we'll go riding, or sailing, or shoot arrows. Right now, he just has to make sure I don't ruin everything."

"Like sink the boat? Make us all swim back to shore?"

"Yes, that would certainly ruin something." Eric smiled down at her. "Here, you steer." He stepped back and made room for her to slip under her arms.

"You don't have to hold it!" Ariel said, motioning to the fact that his hands still held a bit to the left and a bit to the right of hers. "I can manage."

"I thought you never sailed before?"

"Well not physically, but I've thought about it a lot."

"Good enough!" Eric said, releasing his hands as a gust of wind came, taking the boat sharply left.

Ariel put all her force into the steering wheel, and leaned the boat back onto course.

"Hey, fantastic!" Eric exclaimed.

Ariel flexed her skinny arm. "Don't even talk to me unless you have biceps like these."

"Ooh, tall order." Eric rolled up his sleeve and flexed. "This work?"

"No, too lumpy." Ariel waved her hand dismissively. "Look at this! Smooth from shoulder to wrist." She flexed her arm again.

Eric laughed. "It's not lumps, it's muscle!"

"Eh, who can be sure?" Ariel shrugged. "All I know is that I steered that boat, and your lumpy little arms didn't help at all."

"You didn't _need_ my help. I was right behind you."

"That's right!" Ariel flexed both her arms. "I'll flip this boat over if need be. Don't worry Eric, you're safe sailing with me."

Eric laughed as she walked back and sat down on the deck of the ship. The moon shone brightly and Ariel laid on her back, looking up at it and all of it's many stars. "It's so beautiful out here." She breathed. "I could never swim this far."

Eric laughed. "I would never say this to anyone else, but somehow I doubt that."

"You think I should swim out this far?" Ariel laughed. "We must be miles from shore!"

Eric looked back. "No, only about a mile. You could definitely do that. You're strong." He rolled over to his side to look at her.

"Only a mile?" Ariel mused. "I could definitely do that." She laughed a little. "Raps wouldn't like it too much, though."

"Raps?"

"Rapunzel. That's what we call her, sometimes. Well, mostly me and Aurora. In fact-"

"Aurora!" Eric exclaimed suddenly, hitting his hand to his forehead. "Oh, no!"

"What?"

"It's the ball! I stepped out for just a minute, I said, but we've-"

"Oh, shoot!" Ariel exclaimed, rolling to her hip

Eric pulled her up and went to the rigging, getting the little vessel back to shore.

"At least it's only a mile." Ariel said.

…

Queen Leah watched as Aurora spent the bulk of her night with the man the ball was not intended for. Things were wrapping up, people were leaving, drinks were discarded, and still Aurora spun and spun with the brown-haired man ranked below her. Who had come across the sea with the man she was supposed to marry. Who was preventing Eric from falling in love with Eric, with the limited time that he had to do so.

She worried for her daughter. This had to work, this was the only way. Her birthday was fast approaching, and the whole kingdom rested on Aurora's shoulders. Didn't she know that? They had put all of the resources into her, raised her up to be just and empathetic and responsible. She was the only one with a breakable curse. Ariel would either never know romance, or become a murderer. Rapunzel had self-bound herself to the castle, but Leah didn't see a way around that either.

If Aurora were not to wake up from her curse right away, who would the kingdom be entrusted to then? Ariel was reckless, Rapunzel was anxious. Neither had asked for the position of Queen, and neither had been bred for it. Maybe that was a mistake, but neither Leah nor Stephen wanted their children to feel like 'spare queens'. It was a parenting choice, but it may not have been a good ruling choice.

Still, Leah felt only nerves as she looked down at the pair twirling. He had touched her face again, and she had leaned her cheek into his hand. Eric's intentions were good. Eric was going to marry her, Eric was going to love her. This duke…Leah didn't know his intentions. Maybe he was here to flirt, to win the bragging rights of having gotten a future queen to love him.

Something had to be done. Yes, Aurora was young, but she didn't have time to be a child.

…

After balls, Rapunzel always spent a lot of time thinking. About the people she met, the things she learned, the food she ate. But today, she could only think of the strange thief she had encountered, and his talk of the lanterns. Rapunzel had always assumed she would never know everything about the village that surrounded her – after all, she had never really been out in it. Not that she could remember, anyway. There were sure to be all sorts of customs and places she had never seen.

But the lanterns! How could no one have told her about something that sounded so fantastic? The thief, Flynn, hadn't even really explained exactly what kind of festival it was, but her imagination was already running wild. Would there be lanterns hanging from the street? Floating up in the sky? She could hardly wait!

She had never wanted to see something so badly, but that was not an option. Probably ever. Maleficent had allowed for Aurora's curse to be broken – once Eric kissed her – and then Aurora would be free to live her life. Ariel was far more burdened, but only if her curse ever came into effect. If no one ever proclaimed their love for her – even if they really did love her – she could live her life as she did, exploring new places and seeing new things. But Rapunzel was the only one who could keep her sisters safe. If she were to lose her hair or leave for too long, something could happen to one of her sisters, and all would be lost.

She couldn't afford a risk that big. Even a night would be too much, right?

But she couldn't shake this! She had to at least know more. Which was how she found herself rapping on the door of the woman who knew the kingdom the best – Aurora.

"What is it Raps?" Aurora was sitting at her desk, writing in her journal.

Rapunzel came in. "Whatcha writin'?" she asked in a sing-song voice.

Aurora slammed the book shut, likely before the ink had even dried. "None of your business!" she declared. "What do you need?"

Rapunzel put both hands up. "I just wanted to ask you about something. At the ball, uh, someone mentioned a festival."

"What festival?"

"A lantern one."

"Oh!" Aurora leaned back. "It's a peasant festival. I attended one year, when I was younger. It's not something we usually go to."

"What is it, exactly?" Rapunzel pressed.

"The townspeople get together and light a bunch of lanterns, usually several thousand, and send them up into the sky. It's a festival about love – all kinds of love. People go with their spouses, friends, family. It's really more of a community thing."

"Oh, that sounds wonderful!" Rapunzel gushed.

"Yeah, I remember it being really pretty."

"Can we see from the castle?"

"I'm not sure, I've never really looked. I know it's coming up soon because it's close to my birthday, but I forget which day they do it." Aurora shrugged. "Why?"

"I just heard someone mention it, like I said." Rapunzel said softly. "That's all."

Rapunzel slipped out of Aurora's room and down the hall, to a big open window on the village-facing side. She dreamed of what it might be to look out at those lanterns, ascending into the sky. Though she was already trying to convince herself, she knew that seeing them from a window would be nothing like looking up at them from the square.

But that was her only option, wasn't it?

…

"Oh!" Belle exclaimed happily, pulling out a thin, well-worn book. "I'm sure Queen Leah has a copy of this, but another couldn't hurt."

Adam snatched it from her hand.

"Hey!" Belle exclaimed, furrowing her brow. "Give it back." She held out her hand.

"You're not giving the Queen a copy of Romeo and Juliet." Adam said flatly, putting it back on the shelf.

"And why not?"

"It's just a stupid romance, and not even a good one, besides. It ends poorly, because they were all so stupid."

"It ends poorly because even their innocent love couldn't overcome their family's hatred!" Belle insisted. "I don't think you've ever really read it, have you?"

"I've read it!" Adam insisted.

"Then what is an appropriate book, Mr. Know-it-all? Hm?" Belle glared, half-playfully.

Adam leaned back and exhaled, surveying the shelves. "Ha!" he exclaimed, pulling out a blue-bound volume. "Knights of the Round Table!"

"Knights of the Round table?" Belle said flatly.

"You know, knights and battles and stuff."

"It's still a romance!" Belle pointed out.

"It's not filed with the romances! Besides, you couldn't take this copy anyway."

"You don't even have a filing system!" Belle gestured wildly to the stacks of books all about. No wonder this needed to be her full time job. If he had sorted through it, it probably could just be an errand.

"I'm not talking about this book shop!"

"Then which shop are you talking about?"

Adam froze for a moment. They were both speaking so quickly it was clear he hadn't much thought about what he was saying. Now, he had said more than he had hoped. He looked over at Belle, who was confused at his silence.

"Do you have a second bookshop?" she asked, innocently enough.

"No, my house used to have a lot of books in it?"

"Did something happen to the books?"

Adam laughed without humor. "Something happened to the house. After my father died, it fell into great disrepair – I was still quite young, you see, and the roof caved in after almost a year. Roughly all the books that were in the library I organized are still in there."

"Oh," Belle said sympathetically. "I'm so sorry to hear that!"

Adam shrugged.

"Isn't there anything to be done?" Belle asked. "Could it still be fixed?"

"I doubt it." Adam said. "I haven't even out there in ages. I went back at first, to take out what I could." He held up the Knights of the Round Table. "Like this. It was one of my favorites. It's why you can't take this one. There's a handful of books in here I just couldn't part with."

Belle nodded. She understood that feeling more than anybody. "Of course." She said. "Though, if you did want any help trying to fix up the house, I'd be happy to help. On weekends, of course."

Adam looked over at her, with light in his eyes. "Do you mean that?"

"I do!" Belle said happily. "My father is an inventor, and he has tons of tools. I'm quite handy myself. I've done some inventing of my own." She said proudly. "I made a machine that could wash clothes – that used to be one of my chores."

"Is it not anymore?" Adam laughed. "Did you invent yourself out of a job?"

"Not quite. The other maids weren't too happy with the machine. They thought it was loud. I suppose it was. I got moved onto dusting. Then mending. Now I'm here."

Adam laughed a little. "I'm glad you are."

…

"Where is she, Rider?"

Flynn knew this was coming, he knew he fucked up. But how was he supposed to do that to her, grab her out of her home and yank her out the window? He didn't have time to charm her, the time pressure was too great, and once she stepped into the light she looked so –

"Yeah, Rider. I thought you said you had her in the bag." The other Stabbington brother closed in.

"Guys, these things take time-" Flynn spoke quickly, trying to use what possible charm in order to let this blow over.

"We don't really wanna hear it, Rider."

One of the Stabbington brothers picked Flynn up by the front of his shirt and pressed him up against a boulder. "This was supposed to be your contribution of the plan. It's been quite a while since we've had a good meal or a good anything, and you said with your little plan this would be fixed."

The other Stabbington brother wrapped their hand around Flynn's neck. "Didja just want to go play in the castle, Rider? Get dressed up like a dandy and go dance around? Was that fun for you?"

"No, and to be honest, this really isn't either." Flynn said, his voice weak.

The Stabbington brother dropped him and Flynn smacked his head on the rock and fell to the ground.

"Next time we see you...you better be bringing her to us."

…

…

Belle sat up in bed, reading a blue bound book that she had promised to return safety, as soon as possible, by the light of a dying candle. She forced herself to read as quickly as possible in order to finish it before the candle burned out, because she knew how anxious Adam was even in lending it to her.

With his newfound trust in her, he had revealed that his house had fallen into ruin, and his father had died. This only gave Belle more questions – what of his mother? Where does he live now? Is there other family? Was the bookstore his, or his family's initially? But she hadn't known him terribly long and still felt intrusive asking such personal questions.

She laughed a little to herself, thinking of all this. To think that she cared! To think that she wanted to know anything more about the beastly man who had yelled at her that first day.

But now, if anything, she seemed to understand. She knew the power of books, and the closeness one could feel to them. She knew that her books were more akin to friends or treasure, rather that little bindings of paper. If that was all that was left of his family home, if the books were the things that he went back for, she would understand why he'd be so mad to have her sort through it all so casually.

Now, he still didn't have to be such an _ass_ about it – he really should learn to control his temper. If he had explained, or even asked politely, she would've stopped right away. That really wasn't too much to ask, was it?

Regardless, there was an understanding between them now, she thought. That if he would be better, so would she. That they could discuss books, and now, their lives. The bookstore was a safe haven for them both, and she had made space in her heart and in her head for Adam. For what feelings exactly, she could not quite articulate. But that wasn't what she was concerned with tonight. Tonight, she was concerned with a blue bound book.

Still, there was something there that wasn't there before.

…

"Aurora, dear, is this a good time?" with two raps on the door, Queen Leah pushed softly in.

"Oh, yes. I'm just getting ready for bed." Aurora put her brush down and turned to face the door.

"Good, good." Queen Leah smiled. "I just wanted to know how things were going with Prince Eric."

Oh. "They're fine." Aurora shrugged. She really didn't want to talk about this.

"He's very nice, isn't he? And handsome." Queen Leah pressed.

"He is, I suppose."

"And you do know your eighteenth birthday is in just over a week."

"I do." Aurora said, testily. She really, really didn't want to talk about this.

"You know you have to make the first step here. Everything is done, it's organized. Just tell Philip when you're reading for Eric to propose, and he will."

"Mother-"

"Aurora, sweetheart. There really isn't much time."

"I just don't know if I love him!" Aurora said, spinning to the side.

"Aurora, darling, darling." Queen Leah said sympathetically. "I don't want to force you into this. I'm sorry it has to be this way. I wish your courtship could've been different – I wish you could've found someone you love, who can chase after you, and flirt with you, and send you flowers and messages. You deserve that. But, unfortunately, Maleficent has taken that from you. And when she comes back to enact yo-your curse…"

"Mother, please don't cry." Aurora said softly.

"I'm sorry, dear. It can just be so hard to think about, sometimes."

"Believe me, I understand." Aurora sighed.

"He's not a brute, is he?" Queen Leah asked. "He's not unkind, or unfair, right? We've talked to his parents extensively, and-"

"No, no!" Aurora waved her hands. "He's perfectly nice, I haven't heard a complaint from anyone."

"Is there an issue, then?" Queen Leah pressed.

"What if he marries me…but doesn't love me?"

"Don't be silly, dear!" Queen Leah smiled. She worried Aurora would have a harder question. "Who else would he love?"

"And what if I don't love him?" Aurora asked tenderly.

"Well," Queen Leah paused, choosing her words. "Well, that's not part of the curse."

...

review, please!


	3. Chapter 3

"Belle, wait up!"

Rapunzel picked up her skirts to catch up to Belle, who was tying a scarf over her head.

"What's up, Rapunzel?" Belle asked.

"Do you know about the lantern festival?" Rapunzel asked, getting straight to the point.

"Yeah!" Belle said. "That's always a fun day, if you can go."

"Have you been?"

"When I'm off work, yeah. I haven't been in a few years, though."

"What do you know about it?" Rapunzel pressed.

Belle shrugged, not understanding the urgency with which Rapunzel pursued this question. "It's an annual festival. People will write their loved ones' name on a lantern. Any loved one – significant other, family, friends. Multiple if you so choose. You don't have to, like, pick a favorite kid or whatever. Then all at once, we let them go up into the air and they look really beautiful being sent up like that."

"Oh," Rapunzel sighed dreamily. "Is there any good place to watch it from the castle?"

Belle shook her head. "No, not really. You may spot a few stray lanterns but you're not going to get the full show. I've tried to watch it from the palace before, and so have a few other servants, but it never really works out that way."

Rapunzel deflated, like her light had been blown out.

…

Belle almost didn't want to admit it, but she was excited to go to the bookstore today. She wasn't sure when she started feeling this way, but she didn't really mind it. She liked going through the novels with Adam, and discussing their favorite books and stories, and why they liked them. She felt a bit ashamed now for having thought that he was such a beast.

She pushed open the door excitedly, letting the bell ring in order to announce her arrival. She looked around the shop - where was Adam?

"Adam?" she called out, stepping in and pulling the scarf off her hair and shaking it out.

There was no response.

"Hello?"

Again, there was nothing.

Curious, Belle went further into the store, looking behind the counter. He wasn't crouching there but, then again, she really wasn't expecting him to be. She poked her way around the shop, behind the shelves, and around the reading nook. He wasn't in the shop.

She moved to the back of the store, to the door she was told not to go into. She knocked, just once. "Adam?" she asked.

There was no response. Maybe there was something wrong with him! Wasn't this where he lived? Hadn't something happened to his house? Concerned but curious, she pushed open the door.

There was a little cot bed, all made up, and an endtable beside it. There was a shelf of books up above his headboard, and a candlestick besides them. He had a desk with papers all over it, and Belle looked down at them. She expected them to be invoices and forms for the shop, but that wasn't what it was.

She stifled a gasp, giggling a little. It was poetry! She never would've guessed that Adam was the kind of man to write poetry, of all things, but here it was! Swirling language about roses and love and pining and-

"What are you doing?"

Belle spun around, clutching the poem. Adam stood in front of her, holding a basket of groceries.

Belle had to fight another giggle. "Nothing, sorry-"

"I told you never to go in here!"

Belle balked back. Only now, when he was yelling, did she realize how much larger he was than her, and how much stronger. "I-"

"That was my only instruction! I'm not here and you barge into my office, my personal space!" Adam threw the groceries onto the ground. "What is wrong with you?" he roared.

"I'm sorry, I was just looking for you!"

Adam zeroed in on the paper she was holding. "What are you doing? What are you holding?"

"Nothing, I-"

Adam swiped the paper out of her hand,confirming his thoughts. "You're rifing through my things too? Does privacy mean nothing to you?" he balled up the paper and threw it.

"I didn't mean any harm!"

"Go!" Adam yelled. "Get out!"

Belle slipped out of the room, but stopped only a few feet of him. "Adam, listen to me!" she said, summoning all the bravery she had.

"Get out!"

"I'm sorry, okay! I didn't mean to invade your office, or poke around!"

"That's exactly what you did!"

"But I didn't mean any harm by it! I thought you were maybe still sleeping, or working, and I just wanted to find you! I didn't want to hurt anything!"

"That room wasn't for you to see!"

"I know you're upset, but you need to control your temper!" Belle insisted. "I'm sorry, I mean it! I know what I did wasn't right, but I don't deserve to be yelled at like that!"

Only then, did Adam notice the tears in her eyes. His shoulders slumped forward a bit, and he looked around him. "Okay. Okay." he said slowly. I won't yell at you again."

"I promise not to go into your office again." Belle said slowly. "Can we...can we just start today over."

Adam nodded slowly, stooping to pick up the groceries and place them back into the basket. Belle got down and helped, and the two worked in silence, until Adam held out a slightly-crushed pastry.

"I had gotten this for you." he said, softly.

…

Philip knew that Aurora would be out in the garden. Whenever she wasn't in the castle - that's where she was. Especially when the sun was setting. And when she was in the castle she'd either be in her study, working with her tutor, with her parents, resting in the pink parlor, or in her bedroom. Her days were busy, but always formulaic.

He had returned from town with a little surprise, and knew it was a little time-sensitive.

"Aurora!" he called out, seeing blonde curls. She spun around a smiled a little, giving him a wave.

He moved up the hill quickly, still holding his surprise behind his back.

"What is that?" Aurora asked, trying to peer behind him.

"Hey, hey. Stop checking me out." Philip teased, taking a step back.

Aurora flushed a little, but continued. "Well, you're hiding something."

"I am!" Philip said. "I've been trying to learn more about your country and everything, and I heard of a festival tonight, so…" he pulled out a smallish lantern from behind his back and smiled as he handed it over.

"Oh, Philip. That's so sweet of you!" Aurora smiled, examining it. "Where'd you get it?"

"I made it."

Aurora felt her heart swell and she didn't know why. "I don't think anyone's ever made me something!" she laughed a little. "Well," she rolled her eyes. "Rapunzel painted a lot of murals all over my walls, but I didn't really want to look at them. It was a lot of lizards, and I don't really understand them. They seem shifty."

"Lizards?"

"And salamanders." Aurora nodded. "Too slippery." she shook her head. "But that's not the point. Thank you so much!" she used her free arm to hug him and he wrapped both arms around her waist. She politely kissed his cheek as she pulled away from him. "I haven't been to the festival in forever."

"Well, I'd like to see as much of the town as I can!" Philip said excitedly. "Once you come see Eric's land, I'll be sure to show you around. I'm sure you'll spend the summer there, or something. The people will want to meet you."

Aurora looked down at the ground, willing herself to keep it together. To not cry, not here, not now.

"Are you okay? Did I say something?" Philip asked, trying to catch her eye.

"It's fine. I'm being a ninny." Aurora sniffled and looked back up at him.

"No, I'm sure you aren't. Tell me what's wrong, please." Philip said.

"It's just a lot of change, very quickly." Aurora said. She couldn't possibly tell him the whole truth, or the extent of her fears.

"I'm sure. I can't imagine the position you're in."

Aurora laughed a little. No, he really couldn't. "But I'll be fine. It'll be fine. So soon I'll be free of my curse, and have my kingdom strengthened. What more could a princess want?"

Philip paused a beat. "Well, if you think of something, let me know."

...

"You've never read it, don't even try-"

"Belle, I've read almost every book here."

"Well, you didn't understand it, then." Belle said, snatching the fairy tale book back.

"I understood it perfectly. They're not real."

"Of course they're not real-real." Belle rolled her eyes. "That doesn't mean they aren't important. That they don't mean something. If you understand enough fairy tales, you understand life. They have all the answers, I promise."

Adam looked up through the window at the lowering sun, and down at Belle, who was leaned up against him and surrounded by books. "What are you doing tonight?" he asked her.

"Huh?" she looked up at him.

He smiled a little. "Did you have plans for this evening?"

"I don't think so." Belle said, her answer trailing off.

"The lantern festival is tonight. Would you want to go?"

Belle smiled a little. "I think I'd like that a lot."

...

Rapunzel had never felt so moony, sulking about the castle. She wondered if she would be missed if she left, just for an hour. She wondered if it'd be possible for her to find her way into town by herself. Sighing, she leaned her head out the window, and looked into the gardens, where -

Wait a minute.

Rapunzel squinted her eyes and leaned a bit more - the sun was starting to dip low in the sky, was this a trick?

"Hey!" she yell-hissed. "Hey!"

The man whipped around, proving himself to be exactly who Rapunzel thought he was - the thief from the ball!

"You! Come here!"

The thief looked at an escape route, then plodded over to her. "What?" he said, with a more annoyed tone than anyone had ever dared to speak to her in.

"You're back!"

"Yeah?"

"Why?" Rapunzel pressed.

"I'm sorry, is this an immigration stop? Why the 4th degree?"

"5th degree."

"I said what I said."

"I wouldn't get to salty with me, Mr. Flynn."

"It's just Flynn." he said flatly.

"You know I'm a princess, right?"

"That's so wild, I'm an earl."

"I mean it!" she insisted, but noticed him laughing.

"Yes, princess, I know who you are. Believe me." Flynn said.

"And this is my house, did you know that?"

"Just you? That's a lot of space for one person."

"My point IS that I know you're not allowed to be here."

"So?"

"So, I have the power to tell the king and queen that you were here, and they'd put up posters for your arrest."

"You're gonna narc on me?"

"I don't want to." Rapunzel said honestly, trying to play her cards as best as she could.

"What are you trying to do here?" Flynn asked.

"I need someone to take me into town."

"Don't you have, like, a million servants?"

"Who can get me out secretly and back before anyone notices I'm gone."

"Are you not allowed to leave?"

"Yes and no. But you're not in a position to be asking me questions." Rapunzel said. "I want to see the floating lanterns."

"The festival?" Flynn confirmed.

"Yes!" Rapunzel said, smiling brightly. "If you can get me there and back safely, then I won't tell anyone you were here."

Flynn knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, one that would afford him everything he wanted, if he could only find the strength to bring her into harm's way. He stuck out his hand. "Deal!"

"Wonderful!" Rapunzel smiled naively.

"The sun is going to set in less than an hour - we should head in now. Flynn said, reaching up to help her climb out the window.

…

"You've gotta see this!" Ariel said, her smile shining as she pushed open Eric's bedroom door.

Eric looked up from his journal. "What?" he said, putting his quill down.

"Come outside, come outside!" Ariel said, bouncing lightly.

"What?!" Eric said, but he stood up and slipped into his boots and followed Ariel as she scuttled out of the room and down the hall. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see! I found these months ago, I completely forgot about them until people were talking about the lanterns-"

"Lanterns?"

"Yes! We can only go at night, but it's better to make your way down there with some daylight so hurry, hurry, hurry!" Ariel said excitedly.

"What lanterns?"

"This is better than lanterns!" Ariel promised. "But there's this festival in town, we usually don't go, it's more of a peasant thing, but they light up all of these lanterns and send them into the sky."

"Okay, then where are we going?" Eric asked.

"Awfully strange for you to keep questioning me, the princess."

"I'm a prince!"

"Okay, I didn't ask?" Ariel said, running outside.

Eric smiled and followed her out, as they went down to the beach and out along the shore.

"Do I get a hint?" Eric asked.

"No. Okay, yes. They're not lanterns, but they glow."

"Are we going into these caves?" Eric asked as they approached.

"Yes, and they're full of water and mud, so I'd take off your jacket." Ariel said, fiddling with the buttons on the front of her dress.

"What?" Eric said, looking at her as she slipped her dress off her shoulders and stepped out of it.

"Your jacket. Whatever we wear in there is probably going to be ruined. The cave isn't exactly clean, but it's worth it."

"Okay." Eric looked down at the ground as he took off his jacket. He had to be polite. He shouldn't gawk at her like a child looking in the window of a shop. He tried to not think about how smooth her skin looked, or think about what it must be like to touch her. He took a deep breath in and tried to make his mind go blank, and pulled his shirt up over his head.

He looked up at her again, and she was staring right at him, her mouth parted, only slightly. She gave him a small smile, and pulled up her foot, fiddling with the laces on her shoes and wobbling a bit.

"Here," Eric said, looking for any excuse to get close to her. He wrapped his arm around her waist to steady her and she leaned into him, undoing one shoe, and then the other.

Ariel put both feet back on the ground and looked up at him. He wished he could tell what she was thinking, or if she knew what he was. His arm was still around her waist and, so gently, she placed her hand on his side. He could barely feel her, but her skin was cool like a breeze. Her skin was so pink - in her cheeks, on her shoulders, her lips. She was pressed up against him in only her slip and corset - he had never been this close to _any_ girl before.

"Are you ready?" she asked, too quiet to be intentional. They were completely alone.

"For what?" Eric asked, feeling very stupid as she giggled.

"For the caves, silly." she said, pulling away and grabbing his hand to tug him along.

Eric groaned but smiled back at her. He had forgotten all about the caves, instead fighting the urge to crash her up against him, to feel her as close as she could be, to wrap her up in his arms and kiss her like he meant it.

"Yes, let's go." he said.

...

Rapunzel didn't know why she trusted Flynn so much. She hardly knew him. But then again, she hardly knew anyone but her family. Maybe she was just looking for someone to trust. He certainly seemed like someone who was supposed to be in her life - he showed up enough. And he had had plenty of opportunities to hurt her, but he didn't.

Not to mention, she was the safest sister of all. She always had her healing hair - Aurora and Ariel had to just hope she was around. If Rapunzel were to prick or cut herself, it would be only a song until she was as good as new. She was terrifyingly aware of this.

But as her time with Flynn went on, during their circuitous walk to town, she became less and less aware of this. She thought not of her curse, her sisters, or the castle. Tonight was a night for her - a chance to see the lanterns.

"So, Flynn, tell me about yourself."

Flynn seemed to have no issue with this question. "Well to be honest, princess, I was surprised you hadn't heard of me before. I'm a notorious adventureror. I've been through valleys, up mountains. Did you hear of the time I-"

Rapunzel wasn't stupid - she knew he was lying.

"-so that's when I looked that baboon in the eyes. And I said "baboon, it's just you and me-"

But he was still funny, and fun to listen to.

"-of course I hadn't accounted for the Chief, and his many, many spears-"

Rapunzel giggled as he made the story more and more outrageous - she wasn't sure if he was doing it to make her laugh, or if he genuinely thought she was eating this all up. Regardless, it was clear he didn't have a lot of people to talk to.

"-it had 600 eyes, which is 598 more than I was used to seeing, so you could imagine the kind of stress I was under-"

Rapunzel looked up as the town began to present itself, in increasingly frequent homes and fenced-in areas. She had so seldom been into town, and it was usually for formal events where she and her sisters would be driven there, presented, and driven back.

"-so I said, porter? I don't even know her! This, of course, got me hit-"

This would be her first time going into town as a real person, and it was time to soak up as much as she could, while she could. She knew that it wasn't safe for her to leave the castle, and that this was a heck of a risk to take. Still, she knew in her heart that she couldn't spend every day of her life in that palace, waiting for emergencies that so seldom came.

"But that's just me. Anyway - what's your story, Blondie?"

Rapunzel smiled a little. "Blondie?"

"Too casual?"

"No, it's fine. I've just never gotten that before." she said. "I don't really have a story." she shrugged.

"Everyone has a story."

"Not me!" Rapunzel insisted. "My life is just normal, as normal as it can be, anyway."

"For a princess with 60 feet of hair, that seems hard to do."

"Keep your voice down!" Rapunzel insisted. "I'm hoping to not be recognized."

"Not gonna happen like this-" Flynn said, grabbing her as someone stepped on her hair, yanking her back. "We've gotta take care of this." He scanned around and located four schoolgirls braiding each other's hair. Flynn whistled and they looked up, gasping when they saw her hair.

"Could you help me out?" Rapunzel asked.

The girls nodded eagerly and ran over, braiding up Rapunzel's hair with enthusiasm until it rested just above the ground.

"Thank you so much!" Rapunzel said, spinning around. "It looks fantastic!"

"Here, what do you want to see? We've got some time before we have to get all situated for the festival."

Rapunzel gasped, never before having such possibility before her before. She dragged Flynn all around - into shops and gardens. She helped with a big chalk drawing, and joined in on dancing. A woman showed her how to play a quick few notes on a fiddle, and Rapunzel stopped by a flower cart and was given a handful of flowers, which Flynn carefully tucked into her hair.

"Thank you!" she said excitedly after he finished, spinning around.

Flynn gave a laugh with a half-smile. She spun again and one flower flew from her hair, seemed to glow for but a second, and settled on the ground. Flynn picked it up, and put it in his pocket.

"Punzie, have you been having a good time?" Flynn asked, feeling quite tender all of the sudden. He knew she didn't have much time left before he had to turn her over, and he at least wanted her to enjoy this.

"You have the oddest nicknames for me." Rapunzel said, grabbing his forearm and tugging him towards a cart full of apples. "But yes! I haven't had this much fun in ages."

"Are you sure you want to stay?" Flynn said, all of the sudden. She could go home, by herself, he could say she escaped.

Rapunzel furrowed her brow. "What are you talking about?"

"To the boats!" A voice called out.

"Oh!" Rapunzel said excitedly, grabbing his hand and tugging them both towards her fate.

...

"Where are we going to go watch the lights?" Belle asked.

Adam growled. "It's such a shame - the view from my house used to be so good. Unbeatable."

"Did you have to go up on the roof?"

"No, anywhere in the house would do. It was placed a bit up on a hill, in a perfect place."

"Is it far?" Belle asked.

"No, not really. Maybe a ten minute walk?"

"Could we go there anyway, then?"

Adam smiled at her for reasons she couldn't quite articulate. He didn't know how to feel at all right now. He loved spending time with Belle, he knew that. But people usually didn't spend much time around him in general, so it wasn't used to this at all! He didn't know what he was supposed to do, or say, or feel. Was this all normal, anyway?

And now he was bringing her to his house! He had never brought anyone there before - it was dilapidated and in poor shape, and he had left it for a reason. What if she felt sorry for him? Nothing could be worse than that, he didn't think.

The walk was quick, and mostly quiet, with Belle dreamily looking around the well-shaded path at the different trees and flowers.

"Here we are." Adam said quietly, showing her the dusty and dirty old house.

"Well, yes, that roof definitely needs to be fixed." Belle smiled up at him. "But the house has a beautiful soul. It's worth fixing."

Adam felt his heart swell and warm. "We can still be inside some parts, safely. Do you - do you want to see?" It felt strange to invite anyone into his life, but he didn't think Belle would run scared. She was tougher than that.

"Yes!" she said excitedly.

They went into the house through a side doorway, to a room that must've once been a fine library.

"I pack as many books as I can into the shop, of course." Adam said. "But I'm hoping to sell them in order to get more out of here. I'm terrified of a roof leak."

"I could keep some in the castle, if you want." Belle offered. "I know some hiding places - no one would take them."

"Do you mean it?" Adam said excitedly.

"Of course! I know how important books are, believe me." Belle said warmly, sitting down on a small couch.

Adam pulled out a few books. "You can have whichever you want, if any, of course." he said.

Belle gasped. "Any of them?"

"They're all yours. Even the ones in the shop. Whatever you want, Belle." he wanted to thank her, but he wasn't sure for what.

Belle jumped up excitedly, and threw her arms around him. When she pulled a bit away from him, Adam took the chance he didn't even know he was waiting for, and kissed her. Belle didn't even seem surprised, but pressed herself back up against him, kissing him back.

…

"Philip?" Aurora said, appearing in his doorway.

"Princess!" he exclaimed, sitting up quickly.

"Are you doing anything, right now?"

"Whatever you want to do."

Aurora smiled a little and looked down. "I was wondering if you wanted to come send the lantern up with me."

"That'd be wonderful!" Philip pulled his boots on quickly. "Where is it in town?"

Aurora shifted nervously a bit. "I don't know if going into town is such a good idea."

"Isn't that where the festival is?" Philip asked, genuinely confused.

"Well, yes. But you see, I am the princess. And everyone recognized me by this point."

"Ah."

"And to be out in town would draw attention, especially since," Aurora shifted her weight to a different foot. "You are not my intended."

"Oh…" Philip crossed his arms. He looked up her. "Do you _want_ to go to town, though?"

"Well, yes, I want to, but-"

"What if you weren't Aurora - just for one evening?"

"What do you mean?" Aurora asked, stepping further into the room.

"What if we disguised you, to look like any ordinary girl? Put you in a maid's outfit and covered your hair." Philip walked over to her and pushed her hair off her shoulders, twisting it up. "Everyone will be too focused on themselves anyway, with just a bit of deception you can get away with it."

"Do you really think it would work?" Aurora asked, excited.

"I think it's certainly worth a try." Philip smiled down at her.

"Well, let's try it then!" Aurora said excitedly, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the room.

…

"So," Eric said, making conversation to think about something, anything else besides how much he wanted to kiss this girl. "What's the deal with these caves?"

"Be careful, here, hold onto me." Ariel said, leaning forward and starting to scoot up a steep incline.

Eric reached for her hand.

"No, hold my waist." she said. "I need both hands - on to climb, one to make sure there's nothing weird in the way. It's hard to see here."

Eric groaned. She wasn't going to make this easy, was she? They moved onward and upwards together, until Ariel sat down suddenly, on a plateau.

"Here, scoot up!" Ariel said, tugging him up.

"Is there room?" Eric asked, already aware the answer was no.

"Okay, we'll figure this out." Ariel said, pulling him up and then sliding onto his lap. She put one hand on his shoulder, up by his neck, and he wrapped his arms around her, almost instinctually.

"Okay, now what?" Eric asked, feeling nervous but excited all at the same time.

"Lean back." she said, pushing her body up against him.

They fell back together, over the ledge. There was another jutting-out that met and supported Eric's head and shoulders, but the space between that and his hips was empty. Ariel shrieked excitedly and clung to him, wrapping one leg around his waist and using her free arm to grab his side. Eric clutched her to him, wondering if she had a death wish to fall down.

"Look up, look up!" she said excitedly, letting go of his side to point up at the very bright blue glow of…?

"What is it?" Eric asked.

"Glow Worms!" Ariel said excitedly. "They glow like lanterns, and burrow like prairie dogs. They're worms!"

Eric burst out laughing. "Worms?"

"Aren't they beautiful?" Ariel sighed.

Eric looked down at her, thrilled to pieces over these glowing worms. He squeezed her. "Yeah, they sure are."

…

Aurora laughed in a girlish way she had never been indulged to have. Philip tied her hair up in a bun and draped a scarf over her head and around her shoulders. She had changed into a maid's simple dress, discarding the rest of the uniform in order to not look too strange. Philip pulled the scarf forward to cover her bangs.

"Perfect." he said, smiling at her. "Now all you need is a common name."

"Something dramatic."

"Glenda Von Barnaby!"

"No, that's too fancy."

"Fancy is dramatic."

"Briar Rose." she said, spinning a bit. "What about that?"

"Well, Miss Briar Rose, commoner, may I escort you into town?" Philip offered his arm.

Aurora had a twinge of guilt for only a second. Shouldn't Eric be doing this? Where was he anyway? But she pushed that out of her head quickly. She was going into town with Philip, not walking down the aisle. And he was the one who brought her a lantern, not Eric. It would've been the proper thing to do.

"Please do." she smiled, taking his arm and exiting the castle.

...

Flynn rowed Rapunzel out to the middle of the harbor and leaned back, dropping the oars.

"I've never been in a gondola before." Rapunzel said excitedly.

"For a princess, you haven't done much."

"It's the hair." Rapunzel said, in a mood to open up tonight.

"What? We braided it up, it doesn't really stop you that much."

Rapunzel shook her head. "Not the length. I'm the only one who can heal my sisters if they get hurt."

"What?"

"I have healing capabilities. They work on everyone, but it's the only thing that works for my sisters."

"Okay…"

"You don't have to believe me."

But he did. How insane is that? He, Flynn, the man who lied for sport and profit, was being given a story more ridiculous than anything he himself had even come up with, but since it was coming from her, he believed it.

"I do." he promised. "So why does that make you not leave the castle?"

"Because what if something were to happen? They literally cannot heal without me - their bodies don't heal themselves, and doctors don't help. A paper cut could turn disastrous if I was gone for a day because they would just keep bleeding. A tumble down the stairs could kill them. I'm the only one who can help."

"But that's not fair to you." Flynn said. She shouldn't have to be cooped up forever just because her sisters were cursed!

Rapunzel shrugged. "But I love them."

This wonderful, selfless, completely beautiful angel sat in front of him, and Flynn wondered how he ever even had the thought of taking her. Of causing her any stress or pain. He was furious with himself, and in that moment any plan he could've possibly carried out was gone.

"Look!" Rapunzel exclaimed, breaking his reverie and jutting forward. "The first lanterns!"

And it was. They came up into the sky as the sun finally set, illuminating the sky. It took only minutes for the sky to be filled. Rapunzel sat back in awe, looking up at the sky and at the reflection out in the water. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen, and worth the risk.

Flynn stared out at her, amazed at something that was as trivial to him as Christmas or bank holidays. She deserved all this and more. He wanted her to have it.

Rapunzel took his hand and squeezed it. "Isn't this wonderful?"

He tucked a loose hair behind her ear. "Wonderful."

She looked at him intently, almost as if she was waiting.

Flynn took the chance of a lifetime, and acted on something he wouldn't even call an impulse, because he wasn't doing it because of a fancy, or a sudden urge - just the realization of something that had been inside him since he had looked into her bright eyes that night at the ball. Flynn leaned in to kiss her, and happened to look over her shoulder - at three large men, standing at the edge of the shore. Who now understood far more than he could explain away.

"I have to get you home." Flynn said quickly.

"Is something wrong?" Rapunzel balked.

"No, no. I'll come find you soon. But I have to get you home." Flynn picked up the oars and began rowing to the other side. He could get her on a path back to the palace before the Stabbington Brothers caught up to them. And they wanted to hurt him more than they wanted to capture her. He was counting on that.

…

"They're beautiful. So much more beautiful up this close." Aurora breathed, looking up at the many lanterns with her mouth open.

Philip looked over at her. "Here, let yours go, _Briar Rose_."

"Do it with me." she said holding it towards him.

They both held the lantern and sent it up towards the sky. Aurora watched the lantern, and didn't even notice that Philip was still holding one of her hands. Mesmerized, she leaned up against him, and he released her hand in order to wrap the same arm around her waist.

"Thank you for bringing me out here." she said, tipping her head against his shoulder.

"Like I said, if you can think of anything you want-"

Aurora looked up at him.

"It's yours." Philip sighed, looking down at her.

Aurora dipped her eyes, and Philip could see her turning pink again. It was endearing. He put his hand gently under her chin and stroked a thumb across her jawline, tipping her face up at him.

"I don't mean to go too far-" he said, seized by a bravery he hadn't expected.

"You aren't-" Aurora interrupted, then jerked away suddenly. "I think we're taking too big of a risk staying out, though. We should go back home."

…

"Are you ready to go?" Ariel asked.

 _No._ "Sure, if you are." Eric said.

"Okay, we have to be careful about sitting up." Ariel cautioned as they rose slowly to a sitting position.

"Okay, how do we get down?" Eric asked.

"Well, I'm gonna slide, you follow." Ariel said, hopping off his lap. She pushed herself down the rock, hit a bump and went tumbling down the side. "Ow!"

"Are you okay?" Eric exclaimed, scrambling down.

"Yeah, it just hurts a little." Ariel reached her hand to her leg. "Shit!"

"What is it?"

"Eric, I'm bleeding. You have to get me home, quickly!"

"Is it a lot? Can you stand?"

"I can't risk it." Ariel said quickly. "You don't understand, this is part of our curses. Please pick me up."

Eric scooped her up and carried her out of the cave. Only once he was out in the moonlight could he see how quickly the blood flew from her leg, seeping through her shift and onto his pants.

"Here, let me get my shirt or something to wrap around that-"

"It won't help. Not enough, anyway. Only Rapunzel can heal me, please get me home quickly."

...

Adam ran his fingers through Belle's hair, wondering if she could hear his heart beating in his chest. He was sure the noise had to deafen her. They had made their way outside, and were watching more and more lanterns float up into the sky.

"You're the first person I've ever felt this way about." he said.

Belle giggled a little. "And you didn't believe in fairy tales. This is straight out of one."

He kissed the top of her head. "Well, maybe you've converted me."

...

"Eric, is that - _Ariel_!" Queen Leah clamped her hands to her face. "Oh, my God! Put her down!"

Eric put Ariel down on a chaise lounge.

"Please, get Rapunzel!" Queen Leah yelled to a nearby servant, who took off in a full sprint.

"Your highness, towels!" another maid came running in, arms full of linens and bandages.

Eric looked down at Ariel as she grew paler and paler, in soft degrees. The pinkness from her cheeks was gone now, and from her lips. Her red hair, already striking, stood out even more. But not as much as the blood, the blood, the blood. They had wrapped towels and sheets and any fabric around her leg, trying to hold the blood inside her, but she wouldn't clot. Her body couldn't heal itself, so she bled. What would've been a quick sting and a scar for any other girl crept towards a death sentence for her.

"I'm gonna be fine, I promise." Ariel said, her voice surprisingly strong. "I'm sorry, I really should've been more careful, I'm sorry."

"No, no. We'll have Rapunzel back in a moment's time, I'm sure." Queen Leah said, her voice warbling. "You're going to be fine sweetie."

Eric still held her hand, but he was squeezing far more tightly than she was. Than she could, he was sure. He couldn't lose her! Not like this, especially not like this.

Eric felt his heart sink. She had so quickly become the focus of his world here. Since he had met her, he had spent his free time with Ariel. He would think about her when he found a shell on his walks, or when he read something he thought she'd find interesting. He spoke with her most at dinners, and they were usually up the earliest, taking breakfast together.

He needed her to live, yes, more than anything. But he couldn't push the thought out of his mind that even when she did (she had to!), he would still have to marry Aurora and spend the rest of his life with her. He would lose Ariel regardless. But he shook that out of his head. He couldn't think about that, not now. Not until she was okay.

…

Rapunzel swayed her way back home to the palace, full of love and dreams.

"Rapunzel!"

Rapunzel looked up and saw Aurora running towards her. Oh, she had so been hoping not to be noticed. How peculiar - Aurora was in some sort of maid's dress.

"Hello, Auro-"

"Come QUICK!" Aurora said, grabbing Rapunzel's arm and tugging her. "Run, run!"

"What's going on?" Rapunzel asked.

"Ariel got cut!"

Rapunzel took off in a sprint.

The two girls crashed into the room where Ariel was laid, Rapunzel sliding to her sister's side.

"It's her leg." her mother said quickly, with the authority of a person who had been through this scare before, but the fear of a person who had been losing hope this case would turn out as well as the others.

Rapunzel wrapped her hair around Ariel, singing the song "Flower gleam and glow-"

The group looked on as her hair began to glow, from her roots to the ends, and put the power into Ariel's leg. By the end of the song, Ariel's leg had stopped bleeding, leaving behind the pool of blood that seeped through the many bandages, but, thankfully, leaving Ariel well.

Rapunzel was filled with guilt and remorse. She had selfishly put her own needs first, and it had almost killed her sister.

"Thanks, Punzie. I'm so sorry for not being careful." Ariel wrapped her arms around Rapunzel. "I'm so, _so_ sorry."

"It's fine, it's fine!" Rapunzel insisted. "I'm so sorry, Ariel. I'm so sorry."

…

As soon as Ariel was okay, but too soon for Eric's heart, he was yanked away from her by a furious Queen Leah, sure to receive the chewing-out of his life for letting her get into this kind of trouble.

"Do you know which of my daughters you're engaged to?" she asked, as soon as they were out of earshot.

"What?"

"I wasn't sure, either." Queen Leah snapped. "Is it the one sitting out there, in her underwear? Is it the redheaded one? Is it Ariel?"

Eric felt his heart dropped. "No-"

"That's right! No, it's not. I have a daughter with an impending curse, and you came to the agreement that you would marry her, and her only. Not strip down my other daughters and almost get them killed!"

"Queen Leah, I'm sorry, I-"

"Eric, I think it's time for you to propose. Her birthday is in six days. You can be married in five."

Review, please!


	4. Chapter 4

_Once upon a time,_

It was a humble beginning for any tale, but Belle never thought it'd be the beginning of one of hers. Fairy tales were for princesses, or people who went through great trials and tribulations. Her life was simple, provincial. But she had never been swept up in her own life before. In books and stories of other people's loves, other people's adventures, other people - that was easy to get lost in. But now her head was in the clouds, but she was still thinking about herself.

But as she was thinking of her fairy tale, she also thought of other's - Rapunzel's, and her sisters', to be specific. Belle had endured years of simplicity to be whisked away into a world of another book lover, and a house that in time would become a castle. The story was just beginning, but she came into it so easily - only by opening her heart.

The princesses, on the other hand, were not so lucky. Belle knew Rapunzel well, as they had both spent so much time in the castle, and Rapunzel had opened up to her several times. Their curses were complex, and only Aurora's offered the opportunity for a happy ending. Belle figured that was because not inviting Maleficent to Aurora's christening was only the first slight. Once Philip kissed Aurora on her 18th birthday, the curse would be lifted from here. Rapunzel would forever be her sisters' keeper. Ariel could never have someone proclaim their love for her. They all deserved happy endings too, and Belle wondered if there was a fairy tale that would give them that.

Belle wrapped her shawl around her shoulders, getting ready to head out to Adam's house, in order to help him start fixing it up. Surely Adam knew of many fairy tales she hadn't heard of.

Belle was a librarian, it was her greatest skill and joy to know things, to believe in things, to immerse herself in thousands of worlds. There had to be a world where everyone got a happy ending. She just didn't know if she'd be able to write it.

...

Rapunzel bit her nails, a habit she hadn't indulged in since she was a child, but she was exceptionally nervous, and not even 100% sure why. Though everything had gotten so close to going awry last night, it had worked out. Ariel was healed; back on her two legs and surely back to her reckless ways.

But so much more had happened than just a slip-up last night. It's not as if she was milling about the gardens, or in a secret nook of the library where she could be lost only for minutes, not for hours. She was off at the lantern festival, exploring town freely. And she was _with someone_. Flynn had found a way to appear in her life when she most craved something new, something exciting. When she milled about the ball, hoping for some pomp in her own life, he came in and out through the window like a ghost. When she wanted to see the lanterns, he took her.

She barely knew him, but she wanted him to come back, to whisk her off somewhere new. How could she miss someone so new to her so badly?

Rapunzel had had plenty of free time, and she spent a fair chunk of it reading. How many tales had she read of princesses holed up in towers or cottages, waiting for the day where their life could begin? How often was it jump started by a strange occurrence, or the arrival of a stranger? Someone who entered your life with such force that purpose had to lie beneath it. Maybe that's what Flynn was for her. She had never been dismissive of fairy tales, so to say, but maybe there was more truth to them than she thought.

Rapunzel sighed and sat down on her chair, grabbing a book of fairy tales. There had to be a way to press forward, she could not venture outside the castle like that and be expected to return as the same person. But the concept of this was far easier than the execution. Could she really so selfishly risk their lives like that again?

Was her thirst for adventure reason enough for that much danger?

...

The hardest part of the task was done - Adam and Belle had cleared away all the rubble and loose pieces of the house, and toted them off down the hill. They'd figure out a use for them later. Now, things had to be repaired. Belle was smaller (and braver) so she got up on the roof as Adam send up shingles with a little basket-pulley they rigged. She hammered them in, and the gaping hole in the roof slowly closed.

They finished that part of the project by lunch, and sat down for a picnic. Adam had gone to the bakery and the grocer that morning to get fruit, cheese, and bread for them. Belle tore off part of the bread and handed it to Adam, then served herself.

"Thank you so much." Adam said.

Adam never thought this could happen to him. Sure, he was young, and it wasn't as though he thought his life was over, but he had certainly thought it had plateaued. After his house was damaged and life thrown into stress and chaos, he thought he'd spend the rest of his life or, at least, the foreseeable part of it, trying to bring his life back to normal.

When Belle walked into his shop that day, he saw her only as a disruption of his progress. Here was another person to deal with, pulling books out of shelves - the only thing he had organized, the only order he had in his life! - and rummaging through his few things like they were hers, and like it wasn't a big deal.

Adam didn't know if there was some higher force that brought her there, but as he saw her leaning back, looking up at the clouds, his further repaired house standing up tall behind them, he was inclined to think that there was. What did a man like he do to deserve such beauty anyway? Beauty not just in her face, but in her mind and her manner. There were many clever girls in town, and smart ones, and kind ones, but there were none with which he clicked with. She was easy to talk to, and easier to listen to.

Perhaps he had miscast himself in the story of his life. He thought he'd be a recluse, a shopkeeper, someone whose job was to wait in the shadows and watch others live their great adventures. Help when he could, but never get that thrill for himself. But he saw now that there were many ways to be a hero, and whatever he could be, and could be for Belle, he would become.

"It's so kind of you to help me fix this all up, really."

"Oh, it's nothing!" Belle said kindly, rolling to her hip and grabbing another piece of bread.

"Really, I can't thank you enough. And on your day off, too!"

"I want to be here." Belle smiled, and Adam felt his heart swell. "I think this place could be a real castle once we get it fixed up."

Adam chucked. "I think it's a bit too small and plain for that."

Belle rolled her eyes. "You make fun of it too easily." she looked back at the house. "I think it has a lot of potential, with a little care and attention."

"Belle," Adam took her hand, wondering if this was too fast, or too soon, but it felt right and dammit, he was going to do what was brave.

"Yes, Adam?" she said, her voice soft.

"Belle, I love you."

…

There were two little raps on her door, and Ariel looked up.

"Come in!" she called.

"Hey!" Eric cracked the door, and leaned on the frame. "How are you doing?"

Ariel didn't know why she was relieved to see him, there was no clear reason behind the emotion. But she was, and she stood up from her spot on the floor and skip-walked over to throw her arms around his neck. "Hi!" she exclaimed happily, stepping back. "I'm fine! That's the one perk of Rapunzel being able to heal us - we heal completely, as soon as the song is done."

"Good." Eric breathed. "I was really worried there."

Ariel also wasn't quite sure why she felt slightly happy to hear that he was worried about her. After all, why would she want him to worry? She didn't actually want him to feel upset - not ever!

"I was a little, too." Ariel said honestly. "But it worked out!" she added chipperly.

"I just...I just want you to promise me you'll be a little more careful." Eric said. "I don't want something to happen to you, okay?"

Ariel took his hands, and truly noticed for the first time how completely they wrapped around hers. She had noticed how handsome he was before, of course, she wasn't blind, but having him hold her hands so gently made her heart drop into her stomach. They weren't friends anymore.

Not thinking, she threw her arms around him again, pressing herself up against him to see if that felt safe too. He wrapped his arms around her waist and let her dip her head into his neck. It wasn't the first time she had thought about kissing him, but this was the first time she realized how serious it was.

After all, he was betrothed to her sister.

...

Flynn coughed once as he stirred back to consciousness. It took him a second to adjust to his surroundings - where was he? There were trees all around him, and the sun up above, peeking through the leaves.

The night came back to him in flashes, out of order. Holding Rapunzel's hand, helping her into the boat. Squeezing it once, and having her look back at him, as if it meant something. The sway of the boat as she leapt to the side in order to get closer to a lantern. Spotting the Stabbington Brothers over her shoulder as he leaned in, filled with the sudden audacity to try and kiss her. Paddling up to them, feeling like a damn idiot but knowing that if he didn't face them they'd go straight for Rapunzel. He knew they didn't really want him. The crack of the first punch. The shallow dud of the last one, before he passed out.

Flynn looked down. Bruises were already flowering on his exposed skin, and he didn't even want to know what was over the rest of his body. He reached his hand up to touch his throbbing lip, finding that blood had crusted over it. He touched his lip with his fingers, only to find that his fingers were still bleeding freely.

Swearing under his breath, Flynn went to rummage in his pockets for a handkerchief or anything to mop the blood up off of himself. He needed to get up and out of here - to make sure that Rapunzel was okay, and to get out of here before Stabbington Brothers came back for seconds.

He pulled the flower that had fallen from Rapunzel's hair, and with only a flash of gold, his hand stopped bleeding and the wound closed.

"Whoa," Flynn muttered, dropping the flower onto his chest, where a bruise seemed to evaporate. He touched the flower to his arm, his leg, his lip, and one by one the wounds closed. He sat up slowly, almost not wanting to believe what happened. Of course Rapunzel had mentioned her magic healing hair - but wasn't that supposed to heal her sisters? Was there some sort of leftover power for him? Was she really not kidding about all that?

But as he rose, his bones did not ache, he didn't grit his teeth, and his muscles didn't strain. It was almost as if nothing happened. Excited and full of energy, Flynn tucked the flower back into his pocket and took off in a healthy sprint towards the castle.

...

Philip rode his horse out into the middle of the forest and stopped when he felt like he was no longer running to something, but from something. In the clearing, he let his shoulders slump and exhaled shakily. How had he let himself get in this deep?

Many times he had let himself imagine what it would be like if he wasn't Eric's right hand man and best friend. If the marriage hadn't been arranged for so long. If they weren't so close to the wedding.

The intros were different each time he dreamed it, depending on his mood. He would run into her in town, offering to help her with a heavy armload of packages. He would find her in the garden, running the tips of her fingers over roses. He was the one engaged to her, and their eyes would meet for the first time upon disembarkment.

But there was one dream he returned to so comfortably.

 _Philip cleared his throat nervously, and rapped on her bedroom door._

" _Come in!" her voice was light and friendly. He wondered if she somehow knew he was on the other side._

" _Aurora?" he said, as if it could possibly be a question._

" _Oh, Philip!" Aurora stood up from her vanity table. "I wasn't expecting you."_

" _We didn't have plans." Philip assured her. "I just needed to talk to you."_

" _Is everything okay?"_

" _It can be. Aurora, I know this is not my place, and I'll leave as soon as you bid me to, but I need you to know something."_

" _What is it?" she asked, stepping closer to him._

" _I love you. I'm absolutely in love with you."_

 _She touched the tips of her fingers to her lips. "Do you really mean it?"_

" _Absolutely," Philip closed the space between them and took her hands, placing them over his heart. "Please, if you feel anything for me-"_

" _Yes." she said, almost breathlessly._

 _He wanted to kiss her, of course he did, but still holding her hands to his heart, he muttered. "Love's first kiss. I can wait. I will wake you up. I'll marry you now. Whenever, wherever you want. Whatever you want."_

 _She threw her arms around his shoulder, and they embraced again._

Philip shook himself out of his reverie. These were fine for dreams, and filled his day. But what could be done? Aurora needed to be awoken from the spell by her husband, and how could he throw two countries and a promised match into chaos just for the slight chance that she might like him back?

If he really believed she loved him, then he would do it. He could face the consequences if he could be given assurance that she saw him as more than a right-hand man. But, then again, where was the bravery in that?

…

She hadn't said it back, and Belle wondered now if that was the right choice, as she swore under her breath and kicked herself. It's not as if she didn't feel it, it was just the sensation of loving someone like that and being loved like that, was so new to her that it felt almost like she was lying by admitting to herself that that's what she felt. It was too new; it was so much.

It was hard already to grapple with the idea that she had the capacity for these sort of fairy-tale thing swithin her life and outside of books, but the idea that she could have a love with this much warmth, and even deeper potential, was overwhelming.

She had smiled, and kissed him, but he still seemed reasonably disappointed. She had made up an excuse about plans to visit a friend in town and had left shortly thereafter. But Belle sighed and steadied herself. She would tell him. She wouldn't be afraid to let good things happen to her.

Next time she saw him.

…

Flynn paused outside the clearing to the castle, hesitating for only a moment. What was he doing here, really? Yes, of course, he was coming to make sure Rapunzel was okay, but he had no intentions of stopping after that. He knew this, even if he preferred to not admit it to himself.

He had lived his whole life as a thief, as soon as he was able to leave the orphanage at the tender age of twelve. At first people tended to excuse his poor thieving skills and look the other way because he was young and clearly hungry, but noon he grew more talented and needed no sympathy to get by. There was no other life he knew, because there was no other life he sought.

And now, look at him. He had the audacity to demand and seek a lot of things, but now he was trying to force himself into a princess' life - and for what? Because he thought she was pretty? Because he liked her? He had seen plenty of pretty girls in his lifetime, why would she possibly be any different?

Or, the more uncomfortable question, why was he so concerned? Never had he hesitated before talking to a girl, or doubted if he was good enough for her. Rapunzel was royal, yes, but Flynn didn't see why that would normally stop him. If he had ever had a chance to hit on any other princess, he doubted he would've hesitated.

So Flynn took stead in the fact that, for once, his intentions were good, and continued towards the castle, hoping that that would shine through.

…

Of course Aurora knew it was coming. Eric had to propose - that's why he was sent over here, after all! And she needed him, to love her and kiss her awake and break her curse forever. She was so tired of this curse, she would've done far worse things to rid herself of it anyway. Eric was handsome, and kind, and he agreed to marry her. There were women with far worse lots in life.

But Eric was not the man her thoughts drifted to when she was pensive, or the face she sketched in her journal. Perhaps it would not be so bad if there was no face there, if she was a blank slate with no strong inclination towards anyone. Yes, she figured if that were the case she could open her heart to Eric, in time.

However, her heart was already taken, by a handsome man who was sweet and kind and brave, who genuinely seemed to care about her. Aurora knew that she wasn't as loud and vibrant as her sisters, especially Ariel, but that didn't mean she didn't want to be noticed! Especially by someone who was supposed to be her spouse!

Philip saw her, really truly saw her, because he looked for her. He thought of her for the lantern festival, and how he could sneak her in because she wanted one day to be free of being a princess. He wanted to get to know her land, and he wanted to show her his favorite places. If Aurora could do over this entire engagement process, she would choose Philip. But Eric was her betrothed, and Philip surely saw her as only his prince's future fiancee. There was no way she could breach that gap.

And even if it were possible - and Aurora had long-entertained the idea that maybe it was - the curse was going to come true in only a matter of days. Her 18th birthday was fast approaching. It was too late for her and Philip, if such a world ever existed.

She wanted something, anything from him. Soon Eric had to propose and they'd be quickly married. Something had to be possible for her and Philip, though Aurora wasn't sure what. Maybe she was just dreaming too much again.

...

Rapunzel still always mistook him for some sort of ghost, appearing outside her window. She wanted him here, and she was glad he had returned, but she still wasn't sure what to make of him, overall.

"Hey, Blondie." he smiled, folding his arms on her windowsill.

"Flynn!" she said excitedly, holding out her hands. "Come in, come in."

He hesitated for another second, but pulled himself up into her room.

"I had so much fun at the festival, it was really amazing!" Rapunzel gushed.

"Really?" Flynn said, almost embarrassed at himself for how giddy he felt, just by her simply mentioning that she had a good time.

"Really!"

"Well there's all sorts of things in town - all the time! If you want to go back I think you'd really like the-"

"I can't." Rapunzel said firmly.

"Huh?"

"I can't go back into town. Not without all my sisters, and Aurora is going to be married soon and will be crowned soon as well, and Ariel is so hard to pin down-"

"Why can't you go back?"

"Remember how I told you my hair has healing properties?" Rapunzel smiled bitterly. "She took this from us, you know. Maleficent, who gave us our curses. She absolutely manipulated all our love, for all three of us. Aurora is dead to the world without it, Ariel has to kill it herself, and my love for my sisters is the only thing keeping them alive." she sighed and looked away. "I am the only, only way my sisters can heal if they're hurt. Not the best way. Not the quickest way. The only way." she dipped her head. "And, don't get me wrong, I'm glad I can help them! Their recovery times are fantastic. But the cost that could come if I'm away, even for a moment-"

"A moment? Rapunzel, what if it was just an afternoon, a -"

"No! I told you I can't go back, don't you get it. We were gone for an evening - not even, really! And Ariel got hurt. She just kept bleeding and bleeding and her blood wouldn't clot, and if we had stayed on the water for even another fifteen minutes I-" Rapunzel shuttered and cut herself off, dipping her head and letting her hair fall around her face.

"That was a freak accident and-"

"No, it was a totally normal accident." Rapunzel corrected him. "She slipped, and got a cut on her leg. What if one of them were to fall down the stairs? Cut themselves opening a knife? We can get hurt anytime, any day, but you don't have to think about it because when you scrape your leg you bandage it and it's fine in a week!"

Flynn felt himself getting frustrated. "So, what're you going to do? Never leave the castle again?"

Rapunzel folded her hands. "I've left before the festival. Sometimes we meet people on holidays. There's public dedications, and the like."

"So you're going to wait for royal events?"

"Yes! With escorts and safety protocols and my sisters-"

"Rapunzel, that sounds terrible."

She did not answer that.

"What're you even going to do, sitting up in here all day?"

"It's not awful." Rapunzel said half-heartedly. "I have my books, and my paints, and the whole castle."

"Haven't you done it all at this point?"

"There's always more to do. I started a new storybook just a few days ago!" Rapunzel pulled her knees to her chest. "I know I can't make you understand Flynn-"

"Eugene."

"Huh?"

"My real name is Eugene Fitzherbert." He said this in a sudden gush of honesty.

"Then why do you go by Flynn?"

"There weren't very many books available at the orphanage, so once you found one, you hung on to it tight. I must've read The Tales of Flynnigan Rider a thousand times, but it made me feel safe, and it made me feel brave. Brave enough to do anything. Brave enough to leave. The orphanage wasn't a terrible or abusive place, but it was very poor, and had very little room. I didn't know if I, Eugene Fitzherbert, would be okay if I left and struck it out on my own. But I knew Flynn Rider would be."

"Have you been okay?" Rapunzel asked softly.

"As well as anyone could expect, I suppose." Flynn smiled. "But I'm not telling you this for pity. Find someone - something - in this castle that lets you be brave enough to let you leave. Your life isn't in here Rapunzel, it can't be, there has to be a way."

"Flynn - Eugene? -"

"Flynn."

"Flynn...I can't do this. Not now. Please." Rapunzel said, shaking her head. "You have to go."

"But-"

"I can't leave, it's too risky!" Rapunzel said, tears springing up more quickly than she had hoped. "Please just go." she stood up.

Flynn rose up as well. "Rapunzel, please just think about-"

"I don't know Flynn, I just...please go." she pushed him back towards the window.

"Rapunzel-"

"Go!"

Flynn reached into his pocket and pulled out the flower, slightly crumpled, but still glowing. "This fell from your hair, and it healed me too." he said. "Your hair does a lot of good, but it's not worth it if it doesn't help you too. Please, just think about what I've said."

Rapunzel nodded a little. "I will. I don't want to be here forever." she admitted. "But I just don't see another way."

Flynn climbed back out the window, resting with one leg in, one leg out. He took Rapunzel's hand and gently tugged her a little closer, lightly kissing her forehead. "I know you're brave. I hope you can find a way."

...

Eric knew this was his last chance; his only chance. He had to talk to Ariel, and see if there was any hope for this, for them. He smiled, seeing her by the sea, throwing rocks (was she trying to skip them? Or was she mad?). Of course she was there. He found her because he went where he would go.

"Ariel!" he called out and she turned, smiling in a way that seemed to indicate that she wasn't even surprised that he was here.

"Eric!" she waved, and dropped the rest of the small rocks she was holding.

"Ariel, I have to talk to you." Eric put his hands on her waist, smiling a bit as she so naturally wrapped her arms around him.

"What is it?"

"I know this is bad timing, but I don't think there's any possible good timing, so I'll just take what i can get." Eric laughed, a little nervous.

"What is it?" Ariel sounded nervous now, and Eric wondered if she knew what was coming.

He took his hands off her waist to run his fingers through her hair - he had always wondered how it felt. She made no move to stop him and rolled her cheek into his open palm. Eric leaned in slowly, still holding her face, and kissed her. As soon as she kissed him back, he had everything he wanted.

He didn't want to end this, he didn't want to marry Aurora, and he didn't want to be king. He had to talk to her, but could he really blame himself for taking an extra moment more?

…

Ariel broke the kiss suddenly, looking up and around nervously, as if they were caught misbehaving. It was hard to remember that they were.

"Eric-" she said quickly.

"Ariel, just let me get this out-" Eric interjected, wrapping up her hands in both of his.

This was bad. This was very, very bad. She loved him; she knew that, she felt that. But there were no consequences for her loving him from afar. The curse only kicked in if he loved her too, and she had to shut him up.

"No!" Ariel said, with more force than she wanted. She didn't want to refuse him at all! There was a part of her, hard to ignore, that wanted confirmation; that wanted to hear that he genuinely felt for her. But of course this couldn't happen - the cost was too great.

"Ariel, please, I know this is bad timing. I know I'm supposed to propose to your sister today. I know it's three days from her birthday, I know this wrecks everything and-"

"Please stop, just go back inside, we can pretend this never happened-"

"Can you really?" Eric stopped, holding her hands still. "Do you honestly feel nothing for me?"

"Of course I do-" Ariel said, unwilling to deny herself at least the chance to admit the truth, even if it could never be acted on.

"Because I've wanted you for so long. And the more time I spent with you, the deeper those feelings got. I came here with every intention of marrying your sister, but how am I supposed to live out my life with her, with you in the same castle? With you in my life?"

"I don't know, but you're going to have to find a way!" Ariel insisted. "You have to marry her!"

"We'll find another way out of her curse, any way! If it's just her husband, can't she marry someone else? Someone better than me? Doesn't she deserve someone who wants her, not someone who's spent nearly his entire time here pining after her sister?" Eric said, taking her face back in his hands. "I know you're the woman I want."

"Eric, please, you don't know what's at stake here. You only know of Aurora's curse-"

"We'll find another way. I'll do anything to find another way!" Eric insisted, swooping down to kiss her again.

Ariel kissed him back hard, looping her arms around his neck. She knew after this she could never speak to him again, not in the way she had. She could let him develop any stronger feelings for him. And she hated it, she hated it! But the idea of having to lose him forever was so much harder to bear than the idea of always just being outside his reach.

Eric broke the kiss before she was ready, eyes shining. "Ariel, I _love_ you."

" _ **No**_!" Ariel yelled, pushing him back. "You can't mean that! Take it back!"

"I mean it, Ariel. I'm completely in love with you." Eric swore, laying a hand on his heart. "There's no one I spend more time thinking about. There's no one I'd rather be with. I'm completely and utterly in love with you."

Ariel burst into tears. The clock was ticking. Now, she had three days.

"Do-do you not feel the same way?" Eric asked, the hurt seeping through his voice.

She wasn't going to tell him. There was time, precious little, but there was time. She wouldn't reveal everything until she knew for sure that it was too late. But still, she couldn't encourage this.

"Take it back!" she demanded. "Say you don't mean it!"

"But I do!" Eric said, hurt.

"You can't!"

"Why not? Ariel, if you don't feel that way, I'm sorry-"

"I don't!" she lied. "Just take it back, say you don't mean it."

Eric face fell and he took another step back from her. "Okay, if that's what you want. I take it back."

"Say you don't love me."

He shook his head a little, but said "I don't love you."

Ariel put her hands over her face. "Go, please just go."

"I-"

"Go!" she yelled, and Eric walked back towards the castle, head bowed forward.

Shaking, Ariel sunk back down onto the beach. Three days - three days!

…

Eric took a deep breath to steady himself. It was almost funny how nervous he felt, when he already knew the answer Aurora would give him. The wedding had already basically been planned, from when the engagement was pre-agreed to. All that was left to do was to call in people to set everything up, and have the most important nobility present.

Even the engagement had been set up for him. The ring had been chosen. It was a family heirloom, resting in his pocket. The engagement was going to be in the ballroom, done up in flowers and drenched in natural light. Eric stood in the middle of the room, feeling sick to his stomach. He wondered how Aurora was feeling, and lamented for the second time today how much easier his life would be if he could read these princesses' minds.

This had to happen. This was why he was here. And what was the point of trying to put it off anymore, if Ariel really didn't feel anything for him? He had to marry someone, just due to the nature of being a princess. Aurora seemed very sweet and kind, and she was certainly lovely, so why not?

He sighed. He had hoped to be a little more optimistic when it was time for him to propose to his wife, but this was the hand he was dealt.

Aurora stepped into the room, and the two were faced with each other alone, for the first time in a long time. Eric smiled at her. This was what she had been waiting for, he shouldn't ruin it by being sour. She walked to his slowly, holding her hands in front of her.

"Prince Eric." she said, smiling and nodding.

"Princess Aurora." he nodded back, and stooped down to one knee. "I promise to love you, from our wedding day and forever forward. Will you marry me?"

Aurora smiled softly. "Yes, I will." she held out her left hand, and Eric put the ring on it, rising up.

He squeezed her hand and let go, feeling very strange whenever he touched her at all. She made no moves to be in contact with him at all.

And just like that, gears spun forward. A wedding was on. In three days, nearly two now, Aurora would turn eighteen. The ceremony would be on her birthday, near noon. These were easy choices to make, because they were not choices at all.

...

"The wedding is on!" Mrs. Potts said excitedly, as blind as most when it came to the nature of all that had transpired since Prince Eric's ship arrived.

"Oh?" Belle said, wrapping her scarf around her head.

"Yes, you goose. People have been working from the second he proposed last night. They're going to be married early afternoon - in two days!"

"Two days?" Belle said, still unsure of quite what was going on.

"Yes, yes! Come now-"

"Oh, I was just heading to Adam's to get more books-" Belle gestured.

"Oh no you aren't!" Mrs. Potts laughed a little. "Two days, sweetheart! We knew it was coming since he arrived, of course, and the castle has prepared as much as we can, but even for a small wedding there is a large amount of work to be done! Queen Leah won't need books for a few days regardless, you can resume your normal duties after the wedding."

"Okay, just let me send word-"

"Whatever for, dear? He certainly isn't your supervisor! Now come, come! Get that scarf off, there is so much to do!"

"Please-"

"Belle, we need you here."

Mrs. Potts had never spoken to her with any sternness before, so Belle dropped the subject. Hopefully Adam would understand.

…

Adam drummed his fingers on the counter. Two people had come in today, and he was crossing his fingers for third time being the charm. It was already getting later in the afternoon. Belle always came in the morning, every morning. Usually not later than nine, certainly never later than ten.

He thought of a million reasons why she wouldn't come. Maybe she had a cold. Maybe Queen Leah didn't need any more books. Maybe another, less expensive book shop had just opened up the other day. But none of them seemed realistic. Belle had been perfectly healthy the other day, and it wasn't cold season. She had come every day to get books so Queen Leah had many options, not because Queen Leah was actually able to read multiple books a day, every day. Shops seldom opened in town, and they certainly took more than a day to pop up.

More importantly, every excuse he came up with was shadowed with his bumbling at the picnic. He had told her that he loved her, and while she did not run away or react negatively, she didn't say it back. She hardly said anything.

Maybe he had made a terrible mistake by confessing his feeling so soon. Of course he was a fool to think that she would interested in him too. He didn't know how he had managed to misread so many signals and concoct this romance up in his head, but that must be what happened.

Adam slumped his shoulders as he heard the four tings on the clock. The day was almost over, and she still hadn't come. He hoped he hadn't made her job terrible, were she to ever have to come back here. He would keep his distance, were she ever to come back.

He closed the shop early that day, opting to go back into his office, rather than go work on the house they had nearly fixed together. He had a lot of work to do, in learning how to let her go.

...

"Raps?"

Rapunzel looked up from her journal. "Come in!"

The door was pushed open by Belle, who looked weary from her day. "Can we just talk for a little bit? Are you busy?"

"Of course not!" Rapunzel smiled. She always had time for a friend. "Is something wrong?"

"No? Yes? Not really? Nothing bad has happened, but I'm being stupid." Belle laughed, sinking down onto Rapunzel's bed.

"What's going on?"

"There's this boy…" Belle began, smiling a little at the childish framing of it all.

"Oooh!" Rapunzel smiled happily, leaning in.

"It's Adam Beaumont, owner of the bookstore downtown. I think I love him."

Rapunzel smiled. "Have you told him? Does he feel the same way?"

"I haven't told him." Belle said. "But he's told me."

"Oh?"

"I don't know why I got hit by all these insecurities in that moment, but I did. It should've just been a happy moment, but I was just panicked about whether or not I deserved it, of all the stupid things. About how if I just accepted it and said I loved him too the universe would just take it all away from me. It's ridiculous."

"No, it's not." Rapunzel said soothingly. "But if you do love him, I think you should say so."

"Are you positive?"

"Completely." Rapunzel nodded. "You have to be brave with these things. If you don't try to go after what you want, then you'll never know if you could-" she cut herself off for a second, looking towards the window. "...have it."

"Are you okay?" Belle asked, noticing her friends distraction.

"Belle, these fairy tale curses we have, my sisters and I…"

"Yes?"

"Do you think they could be broken?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean…" Rapunzel snapped back to attention. "We've been spending our lives managing them, but what if we didn't have to? What if there was a way to be free of them forever?"

"All curses in stories can be broken, maybe yours could too!" Belle said excitedly. "We can figure out how to do this, I'm sure."

"I'm not." Rapunzel said honestly. But, dammit, I'd really like to try."

"Here, I have some books stashed in the library that would be good." Belle said, thinking quickly. "I'm going to go see Adam tomorrow, and I'll find more. He has so many in his shop, and in his house. I'll be back." Belle ran out of the room quickly.

Rapunzel smiled, placing her hands on her face. This was the first time she felt hope, actual hope, about her curse. Sure, they were not any closer to being free than before, but Rapunzel felt that at least they were taking a step, and that was something.

She was so happy, so caught up in the potential of an ending she hadn't foreseen, that she didn't even notice that she was being watched, right through her own window.

 **Review, please!**


	5. Chapter 5

Two thieves pulled back from the window, nodded at each other, and ducked into the darkness. It was no miracle that they had gotten in here - if Rider, the graceless moron, could find his way in and out, how could they not do so half as easily? As always, if they wanted something done right, they'd have to do it themselves. It wasn't that difficult - she wasn't that far out of reach. In fact, they could take her now-

Rapunzel was unsuspecting, sitting there. She turned over a crumpled flower in her hands, forehead furrowed. All this time she'd thought her hair was just to heal her sisters. Only blood, wasn't that the curse? Or was that just an assumption? She closed her eyes and tried to think, but she was only a toddler when she was cursed - she hardly remembered the day at all!

She'd tried this power on other people - some maids, mostly. Other than sopping up some blood with her hair, it hadn't really helped. Did it mean anything that it was Flynn? Or - Eugene. She spun that over in her head. He didn't seem like a Flynn, the more she thought about him. That was a book character, a persona, something larger-than-life. Flynn was certainly excitable but Eugene…

She touched the petals of the flower, which he'd saved to bring back to her, in hopes of getting her to take another chance. That was Eugene. Did it matter that the power transferred via a flower? There were so many variables...but maybe she had more control over it than she thought. That thought cheered her the most. The hope.

The Stabington brothers watched this all, clueless as to all she was thinking. There was rustling just around the bend - guards? Thinking quickly, the Stabbington brothers ducked into some shrubbery, hoping to conceal themselves.

"Punzie!"

Rapunzel shot up, tucking the flower into her pocket. "Is it really you?"

"I'm sorry, I just had to come back. I couldn't leave things like that, I-"

"Oh," Rapunzel sighed. "Come in, come in!"

Flynn climbed in and looked at her. "I don't want to push you too much, I'm sorry if I did. But I hate having to see you hide yourself like this, just because of your hair - I know you're doing it out of love, but there just has to be another way."

"There just might be." Rapunzel took his hand to quiet him. "The flower you gave me...I didn't know my hair power's could be transferred. I'm not even sure Maleficent knew, when she put the curse on me."

"Maleficent?" Flynn said, his voice going dry, though he tried to appear collected.

"I know." Rapunzel said quietly. "You understand another part of my fear."

Flynn nodded, and they sat down.

"But it got me thinking - if I have the ability to transfer the powers, shouldn't I have the ability to control it? And if I can control that part of the curse, then maybe I can control more. Maybe Ariel can control hers. Maybe Aurora can control hers. I think it's worth trying to find out."

"Absolutely." Flynn said. "So, how do we find out?"

"My friend, Belle, she knows fairy tales and magic better than anybody I know. And Adam Beaumont - the bookshop owner - his her beau, and he knows about them as well." Rapunzel said. "There's got to be something in these books, there's certainly enough stories about breaking curses. If we can figure out a root cause, or source of Maleficent's power, we can defeat it. And we can end this all, for good."

"Let's do it." Flynn said confidently, squeezing her hand. It felt so natural, Rapunzel had even forgotten that he was holding it.

"I think I can do this." Rapunzel said firmly. "But it's scary, Flynn." she looked up at him. "I need you with me."

He swept her hair behind her ears. "Absolutely, Blondie. I'll meet you just outside your window. Tomorrow. Seven sharp."

Rapunzel smiled, her grin not as devious as those of the Stabbington brothers, who'd overheard everything. They certainly could not let such a pretty young lady travel alone, oh, that would not do at all.

...

Belle got ready quickly the next morning, scrubbing her face and tying her hair back, eager to get out the door before anyone could form a mind to stop her. There was enough distance - and, worse, time - between her and Adam and she needed to fix it, now. She thought of how to say what she felt. For a woman who'd read so many words, she was running remarkably short on them. She hoped they'd come to her when she needed them most.

"Adam?" she said, opening the door.

"Belle!" he said, standing up. "I-"

She walked up to the counter, waiting for words to come to him once more.

He looked at her softly, afraid to even reach out and touch her hands, lest she shrink from his touch. "I thought I'd never see you again." he finally said.

"I'm sorry." she said. "I shouldn't have gone from the picnic without telling you how I feel. I wasn't prepared to say anything and I've read so many books - _so_ many books."

Adam chuckled. "I can tell."

"But they all have perfect things to say in these moments, ways to express how they feel and how much they feel it, and I just wasn't prepared. I'm a reader, Adam, not a writer. I'm not good with that sort of off-the-cuff, but I do know how I feel. I love you, Adam. I love you too. I'd love you even if you didn't love me. But you do. And I think I love you a little extra for it."

Adam leaned across the desk and cupped her face, kissing her and trying not to smile throughout. He pulled back only to look at her for a second, and then kissed her again.

"I love you, but I also need your help." Belle said.

"Anything."

"My friends are in trouble, and we may be their only hope."

Adam furrowed his brow. "That's very serious. What's going on?"

Belle explained the curses, and her long friendship with Rapunzel. "All I know about curses I've learned from fairy tales, and you told me, early on, that you've read them too."

"All of them, I'd reckon."

"There has to be a way for them to break this curse, all of their curses."

Adam gave her a grin. "The solution is easy, though the execution likely less so."

"What do you mean?"

"Only two things break a curse - love, and destroying the source. Maleficent made these curses, all of them, yes?"

"Yes, at the christening."

"Well, if we can find her, and destroy her, the power of the curses should disappear with her."

Belle smiled excitedly. "Of course! I'll tell Rapunzel, I'm sure she'd be willing to try anything!"

"She does live up on the forbidden mountain, remember?"

"So?"

"Forbidden mountain, closed office - I know you don't like to follow directions. But Maleficent doesn't love you. She'll do a lot worse than just lose her temper. She'll know why you're there, and she'll likely do anything to stop you."

"I know." Belle said. She was scared, but she was determined to help her friends.

"So, of course, you understand why I can't let you go alone." Adam squeezed her hand.

Belle smiled up at him. "We can do this. Together. All of us."

…

It wasn't fair to say Ariel woke up early, because she never slept in the first place. All night she was fitful; her thoughts so quickly went to her impending curse and all of its consequences. How could Maleficent do this? What made someone so depraved and hateful that they punished a baby for the slight of an invitation, and forced her to go through this?

Ariel had never been in love before - and she knew she'd never love again. She couldn't feel this way about another person, she knew that. And she would not be so foolish as to let herself around someone who might ever feel that way about her. She couldn't risk having to kill again - she didn't even know if that was part of the spell, but she didn't want to find out.

What would it be like to kill Eric?

She didn't like thinking about this, but her subconscious kept pushing it to the front of her mind. There were no details to her spell - and she was just a baby when it was placed upon her, anyway - so the actual procedure was not clear. At midnight would she just snap and attack him? Would he be able to stop her? He was stronger than her, perhaps he could fight her off? Did the command to kill him have an expiration date? If they kept her locked up until midnight, would that be enough? What if she told him and he left, sailing far away to where she could never find him? Would she somehow know? Would it maybe happen the next time she saw him after the three day period was up? He's wish her a good morning, and she'd claw at him?

Ariel put her face in her hands and suck down onto her bed.

These questions were incessant, but were all plagued by a larger one - did it matter? If she told him, if she didn't, if he left, if he stayed, would they really be able to thwart Maleficent? Ariel found herself growing more desperate to think, to do anything, as the minutes ticked by.

She'd probably watch, wouldn't she? Maleficent. Show up, hide somewhere. Perhaps she had a crystal ball, like so many of the witches she'd read about in fairy tale books. Ariel shuttered at this thought. It was disgusting - their whole lives were a performance for a woman that hated them.

Eric didn't know what was at stake here, with the curse. He was entitled to the information, now that he was implicated. If he could think of a way to stop this, to save him, she was more than all ears.

She had to tell him.

Ariel walked gently and slowly down the hall, letting her fingertips run across the tapestries and curtains, slowing her approach to the conversation. She didn't have the words for what she wanted to say, but it wasn't fair to Eric to keep all the facts from him.

She reached his bedroom and knocked on the door.

"Ariel!" he said, surprised. "I'm glad you're here - I wanted to apologize."

"No." Ariel firmly insisted. "You didn't do anything wrong. But, that doesn't mean bad things aren't going to happen anyway."

"What?" Eric said, stepping towards her.

"You know I'm cursed too - we all are. All of my sisters."

"Okay." Eric nodded. "Did I do something?"

"Nothing that's really your fault." Ariel shook her head. "I should've been more careful. You didn't know."

"Ariel, you're scaring me."

"I don't want to, but I don't know how else to put this. Eric, you don't know what my curse is."

"Did something happen?" he said, stepping protectively towards her. "Is something hurting you?"

Ariel bit her lip and looked away from him. "I'm supposed to kill my true love. Once someone proclaims their love for me in three days...I kill them."

Eric stood there, wavering for a moment.

"And, yesterday, you told me you love me."

Eric exchaled and pulled her into him. "Is there anything to be done?"

Ariel buried her face in his chest. "I can't control it. I would if I could, believe me. Of course I don't want to kill _anyone_ , but to have to-" she tilted her head back and looked at him. "I can't hurt you Eric. I don't know how I'm going to possibly do this."

Eric ran a thumb down her cheek. "I know. Believe me, I'm not thrilled to hear this news either."

"I'm so sorry. You must regret saying it so much. It's all my fault."

"I'm not sure I fully regret it, stupid as that may sound." Eric chuckled a little.

"Oh, I wouldn't be offended." Ariel laughed without humor.

"Ariel, when I told you the stakes were already high. I'm still engaged to your sister, after all. I knew I was risking everything when I said it, and frankly I was prepared for the scenario where your father turned the army on me, so my life was already on the line."

Ariel giggled and then groaned, putting her face back in his chest. "How can you make jokes at a time like this?"

"It's this or cry, beloved."

"There's always screaming."

"Yes, I'll just scream right next to your ear."

"I'd deserve it." Ariel said sadly.

"Don't talk like that." Eric said. "It's terrible, for you and me both, but it's not your fault."

"I've been thinking all day of what you can do to get out of this. I don't know how to break the curse. I don't know how to fix this. But maybe, if you're able to get away from me...the curse is clear that I'm the one to kill you. You could run, board a boat and said the world. If I never see you again…"

"Ariel, you can't be saying-"

"You should go!" Ariel insisted, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Ariel," Eric said, furrowing his brow. "I can't leave. I have to be here - to kiss Aurora awake."

Ariel's heart dropped in her stomach. Of course.

"Besides, I still have two kingdoms I have responsibility to, I can't up and leave them." Eric tilted her chin up to look at him. "And I'm not leaving you. Most of all, I'm not leaving you."

…

Rapunzel wanted to see her eldest sister; she needed to talk to someone. Ariel had never been in love, and Aurora was engaged. Surely she'd be able to help Rapunzel sort through her feelings. There was something about Eugene-Flynn that challenged her, but in a way she didn't mind. She didn't really know how she felt, but Rapunzel knew she'd never felt this way before, and if she didn't get the words for it soon, she'd burst.

"Hello?" Rapunzel knocked on the door. She pushed it open to see if Aurora was sleeping in - no, the bed was made and she was gone. Early start. Rapunzel felt her stomach flip as she wondered if Aurora just didn't sleep at all - with the wedding coming so soon. With _everything_ coming so soon.

She stepped into Aurora's room and marvelled at how her sister kept this extension of herself. It was gentle; pinks and lilacs and golds, long curtains swept up around her bed, an ornate hairbrush and journal the only two things sitting out on her vanity.

Rapunzel picked up the journal. She knew she shouldn't look into it, she knew it was an invasion of privacy, but Aurora never told her - or anyone - how she was feeling. So much was happening, if Rapunzel knew...maybe she could help. Rapunzel looked over her shoulder and promised herself she'd only read a little. Only recent stuff, and skip over anything that was about her or not relevant.

She flipped open the book and scanned the pages until she found the date of Eric's arrival.

 _He stepped off the boat today. I've been dreading this day my whole life but somehow I thought I'd be excited the day it actually happened. Maybe I thought I could compartmentalize it more - the curse from the marriage. The curse has hung over all of my memorable life, but the idea of a marriage, at least, has always been sort of exciting. I've spent so many years wondering about Eric. Maybe that was part of the issue - that I had all that time to imagine how he'd be. I pictured a hundred different men with a thousand different personality traits but of course he did not know this, and just showed up as himself._

Rapunzel flipped a few more pages.

 _I feel terrible. I've been avoiding Eric so much already, and I don't know why. But today I made it worse - I sought out Philip. I don't know what's wrong with me. I know I have to marry Eric. I know I can't afford to lose his love - not with everything at stake. Both the kingdoms and the curse. I'm being stupid, I'm being childish, I'm being foolish. But I can't stop it._

Rapunzel felt confused and flipped the pages. Drawings and sketches of Philip, of her and Philip-

 _I met Philip in the gardens -_

 _I dreamed of Philip again -_

 _My mind wandered while I was trying to read today, back to the wedding but Philip was there instead -_

Rapunzel slammed the book shut and slid out of the room. Oh. Oh. _Oh_.

...

Rapunzel came back to reality slowly, adjusting her eyes to the streaming-in sun, the gentle breeze, the sharp and tumbling realizations of the mission that was so quickly becoming urgent. She sat up quickly and grabbed a dress off a chair. She had to get into town - she had to see this bookseller. She had to figure this out. Rapunzel took a deep breath. No, they would. She wasn't going at this alone, and it wasn't just for her. Belle was coming, and Belle knew Adam. Not just knew - loved. She trusted them all. She had to.

She didn't know what to do about Aurora. She was all set to marry Eric in three days, and they were engaged. The curse would be activated in three days, though they didn't know exactly what time on the third day. It was impending. Aurora knew this, it's probably why she hadn't said anything about Philip.

Rapunzel began braiding her hair back, wondering what to say - if anything at all. She needed more time to think - acting rashly would ruin anything.

"Raps!"

Did he have a new nickname for her every time? How long did it take him to think of all of these? Rapunzel smiled as she ran to the window. "Flynn! I'm coming out."

"Still got your hair in the braid?" Flynn laughed. "I think you need some new flowers."

"Oh, yes." Rapunzel said, picking out a few of the more wilted ones. With a soft, barely-there glow, they tumbled to the ground.

"We should bring those." Flynn mumbled.

"No need!" Rapunzel smiled. "You have me." she flipped the braid over her shoulder.

Flynn smiled. "Yes, I do." he cleared his throat and looked up ahead. "So, where are we going?"

"Beaumont Booksellers." Rapunzel said definitively. "Belle and Adam-"

"These are both your friends?"

"Belle's an old friend. I haven't met Adam yet." Rapunzel said. "But they're dating, so I'm excited to get to know him. Probably a little better later, though. Right now, we have to figure out how to break this curse."

"Why did Maleficent do this to you anyway?"

"Spite? Revenge? Our parents have long excluded her from affairs of state and cultural things due to her inclination for, y'know, evil, and after being excluded from three christenings she sort of...snapped I guess. Cursed us to punish them. To prevent us from doing the same once Aurora was in power."

"She's insane." Flynn shook his head. "And she's just gotten away with it for sixteen years?"

"Oh, I wouldn't quite say that." Rapunzel shook her head. "When the curse was enacted, my parents tried _everything_. Or were willing to, anyway. They called in all these advisors and consulted with the military - they talked about capturing her, negotiating with her, even trying to kill her. But prudence won through on each of these thought patterns - each was too risky, and might result in too significant of a loss for them to consider bearing."

"Well, what's different now?" Flynn asked.

"I don't care about prudence anymore. I can't live like this anymore. Not...not knowing what's out there, not knowing that Aurora's curse is so fast approaching, not seeing, feeling, the kind of love that Ariel will never know-"

"Feeling?" Flynn interrupted.

"What?"

"Feeling the kind of love. You just said that."

"I-I did?" Rapunzel staggered back a step.

"You did, I heard it with my own two ears. Is there a beau I don't know about?"

"No!" Rapunzel said a bit too quickly. "No, I'm not betrothed to anyone."

"Dating?"

"Not that I know about."

"Not that your older sister is engaged, do you think they'll be onto you next?" Flynn asked.

"I mean, my parents have never been pushy with me for romance. Aurora was important, because she needed someone to love her by age eighteen. Obviously they're not trying to Ariel. But I...I mostly have been able to do what I want. They want me to be happy."

"And, surely, they don't want you to leave your sisters."

Rapunzel bit her lip. "Regardless, we're at the shop."

Rapunzel pushed open the door, delighting in the sound of the bells and the musky smell of books that reminded her of the palace's own library. She'd never been in a bookshop before - after all, she'd only been to town a couple times, and that was on official business. She ran a finger over the spines of the books, exhaling.

"Oh, Belle." she said, hugging her friend. "Please tell me you've got some direction here?"

"Adam," she touched his shoulder and Rapunzel and Flynn shook his hand, saying greetings. "and I have been talking, and we've found that all the stories we can find point to two things that break curses - love, and destroying the source."

"Love, like when Eric kisses Aurora?"

"Right." Belle nodded. "And that will work for Aurora, but we've got to destroy Maleficent if we want any hope of helping you or Ariel."

"I can do it." Rapunzel nodded. "I'll leave early tomorrow morning."

"Hold one - you aren't seriously thinking of going by yourself?" Adam said, shaking his head.

"Of course I am!" Rapunzel insisted. "I couldn't possibly ask you guys to risk yourselves for my curse."

"It's not your curse, it's Maleficent's curse - it's not your fault." Flynn said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "And I didn't come here just to get the gossip - I'm coming with, Blondie."

"Flynn, I -"

"Not a negotiation." Flynn realized how strange it was - he was risking his hide to help the girl he had met by trying to hurt her initially. She did not know this. He would tell her, maybe, in time, but not before she understood how he felt about her.

"I'm coming too." Belle said, nodding.

"And me." Adam agreed.

"Oh, you guys-" Rapunzel clasped her hands together. "This is more than I could ever ask for, I can't possibly repay you."

"We're not asking to be repaid." Belle said, clasping her hands. "I'm doing this because I love you."

Flynn said nothing, but put a hand on her back and nodded in support.

"I figured you could use all the help you could get." Adam smiled.

Belle turned to roll her eyes at him.

"What!" Adam laughed. "Do you want me to say I love her, too?"

"No…" Belle huffed. "But you know what I mean."

"I do. And I'm going to make sure you're okay, most of all. Because I do love you."

...

"Ariel, I have to talk to you." Rapunzel said, catching her sister in the hall.

"What is it?"

Rapunzel pulled her into a separate room and quickly looked around to ensure that no one else was there. "We might be able to break the curse."

These magical words lifted Ariel's heart and she threw her arms around Rapunzel. Pulling back, eyes shining, beaming, she said, "Do you mean it? Oh, don't be kidding. It'd be so cruel if you were kidding."

"I'm not kidding!" Rapunzel insisted. "But I'm also not sure. All we have is a chance."

"I'll take it." Ariel said. "Please, tell me everything."

"We're under a fairy tale spell, Ariel. As you know as well as any of us. So we looked to fairy tales for answers."

"Okay, what'd you find?"

"The things that break these curses are love, and destruction." Rapunzel said. "Aurora's curse, for instance centers on love. But all of ours could be fixed with destruction - if we can find, and kill, Maleficent, we can end this. Our curses, her powers, her reign...it all dies with her."

"It all dies with her." Ariel said, tasting each of the words as she said them. "I'm in. I'll do anything."

Rapunzel smiled and hugged her sister again. "I knew you would be. I think we should tell Philip as well, but no one else."

"Why not Eric?" Ariel asked.

"It's too risky." Rapunzel insisted. "If anything happens...he needs to be here to wake up Aurora. And Aurora has to be here to be queen."

Ariel bit her lip. She'd agreed before she even really thought about the risks, but it didn't matter. Nothing was more important than this chance. "Okay. When do we leave?"

"Tomorrow morning. We're all meeting at the bookshop."

…

Maleficent watched the formation of their little plan with a certain mirth - it was cute, almost, how they thought they'd be able to march up here and what? Smother her? Stab her? They didn't even really have a plan. They thought they were stronger than her, they thought they could possibly outnumber her. They really, somehow, thought that they could win. It would've been charming, if it wasn't so pathetic.

She could bide her time. After all, she had for sixteen years. She would see them all, enact her curses tomorrow. And how these fools had ruined everything for themselves! Aurora's own betrothed didn't fall in love with her, confessing his love for Ariel instead - that's helping two curses in one! And this other boy, the thief, had almost gotten Ariel killed by bringing Rapunzel out of the castle for too long. And it's clear he didn't even tell Rapunzel the truth of why he was there in the first place...tricky, tricky.

And what did they have on their side, really? They weren't telling their parents, so they didn't have armies - not that that would be enough to stop her anyway, at least the king and queen understood that. All they had was some stupid maid, and books of made-up stories they were trying to bring into their real lives. She laughed a little at this. It was too easy! Tomorrow, she would see her work come to fruition.

Tonight, why tonight she would merely sleep well.

…

Philip sat at the edge of his bed that night, heart racing. Tomorrow, stakes would change. He and many others were going to sneak into Maleficent's Fortress on the Forbidden Mountain and destroy her - and the curses that she had created.

He wondered if that meant anything else would change, once Aurora was no longer bound to the curse. Her betrothal to Eric was practical more than it was political, and it was political more that it was romantic. The main purpose of their engagement was for him to love her, and use that to break the curse. If there wasn't a curse then...well, things could perhaps be rearranged.

Philip knew how he felt about Aurora. That was the easier part of this whole arrangement. He loved how graceful she was - not only in how she moved, but how she acted. She was intelligent and thoughtful, and knew not only what to say, but how to say it. She was gentle, and beautiful, and kind. Perhaps it was a mistake to let himself think that she could love him back, but it had seemed like no more than an indulgent daydream all the while.

Aurora was kind to him, but she was a kind person. She was attentive when he spoke, and seemed interested in what he had to say, but maybe she was just being polite. Still, there was no way for him to scrub from his mind that she might feel an affection for him, even if it was only the beginning of one. He knew she didn't love Eric - of course she had not said so! But she showed it. She never tried to spend time with him, they never spoke of him, even a little. If he wasn't in front of her, it was like he didn't exist.

This was not terrible. The curse only needed Eric to work. And the lack of her affection for him allowed Philip to feel some hope that perhaps he was not entitled to.

But there was the other issue - Eric's affection for Aurora. Philip knew that Eric didn't want to be king, and he knew how important duty was to him, so this marriage to Aurora was not something he entered into lightly. Eric was his best friend. There was too much assurance he would need to speak out. He would need to know that Aurora loved him. He would hope that Eric somehow didn't. To ruin this on a whim would not be an act of bravery, it would be foolish.

But he couldn't do _nothing_ \- so, tomorrow, he'd go.

...

Dawn broke and the group set out. They dressed as practically as possible, nervously readying themselves until it was time to convene. The group set off, too nervous to even talk amongst themselves.

Ariel wondered if she'd done the right thing, telling Eric. If she hadn't told him then he wouldn't have to worry. He could spend his last days in peace. Especially now, since they were going to defeat Maleficent. This would all be over before nightfall, and there was no need for her to get everything so riled up. Stupid! She wasn't thinking ahead, but perhaps it had to be done anyway. Eric deserved all the facts, even if they were terrible.

Hopefully, _hopefully_ they wouldn't matter.

"So, how do we fight her?" Flynn called out, breaking the group silence.

"Well, that's more something to play by ear." Adam said, after a moment.

"Oh, good! Play by ear. We're going to go up against what is realistically the most powerful force in the kingdom and we'll play it by ear."

"Well, we're armed." Belle gestured to her own knife, and everyone checked their own swords and weapons. "And we have the advantage of surprise. We just have to see how much she tries to fight, or how. I'm sure she'll have something prepared. But we're smart, and we're strong."

"And we're armed." Rapunzel reiterated.

"She thinks she's unstoppable." Philip nodded. "That will be her downfall."

They pressed on up the mountain, on a path that'd been worn flat. None of them knew who - or what - she'd marched up and down this mountain. The full extent of her power was hard to fathom. They approached the castle with an unsettling ease, beginning their cross over a swinging, rickety bridge.

"Stay alert." Philip cautioned everyone.

"Don't you think there'd be guards?" Ariel whispered. "I don't see anyone, even evidence of anyone."

"The lanterns aren't even lit." Rapunzel agreed, looking over the ledge.

They crossed over the bridge two at a time, trying to keep someone on solid grounds at all times. With caution, and with luck, they passed. They stood at the gates of the castle and waited a moment, listening. They waited to hear the pounding of guards, or the spells of Maleficent, or the gears of a trap.

But there was no sound.

"Do you think we can get in this way?" Belle asked, feeling the wood of the door.

"Maybe," Philip said, surveying the area. "But I think we'd have better luck scaling up to that window." He pointed with his sword. There was rock that led up to it, though it was steep.

"It might not be solid, I'll go first." Ariel said.

"Are you sure?" Adam said.

"I'm strong." Ariel nodded. "And if I get hurt, we have Rapunzel. She can have me back to new in a minute."

Rapunzel nodded. This was true.

"We'll wait down here, in case you fall." Belle said, stepping close to the rock.

Ariel pulled herself up, grunting a little. She put her foot on a jutted out rock and tested it before putting her full weight on it and pushing herself up. The climb was perhaps fifteen feet, not terribly high, but it was steep and not designed for climbing, still presenting difficulties. Ariel made it up to the top and slid through the window.

When she tumbled to the ground she stood up quickly, looking around. No one had heard. No guards came running.

"Guys!" she waved her hands and gave a thumbs up. "It's all good!"

Rapunzel climbed up next and then lowered her braid out the window, so that people only had to climb ten feet before having a more secure thing to grab onto. In time, they all made it into the castle.

"Have you heard anything?" Philip asked, furrowing his brow.

"Not a soul." Ariel whispered.

"Let's look around." Belle nodded, and they all pressed towards the center.

They surveyed the castle; dirty, grimy, scary, and empty.

They searched for hours. They tried to antagonize her to show herself. But Maleficent was gone. There was nothing to be done, no evil to be defeated, so they gathered together again to go down the mountain.

…

Eric tried to think of the future. He would marry Aurora, and kiss her awake. That day, the love of his life would kill him. He didn't know when, or how. Perhaps before he even got to save Aurora. That was the worst case scenario.

If somehow, he was able to stop Ariel from killing him, he'd spend the rest of his life as king and Aurora's husband - two positions he didn't want. Two positions he couldn't seem to get out of with his life intact. So what did it matter what happened tomorrow? Fates were convening, and there was nothing he could do about. Forces at play were larger than he.

He wished things were different, he dreamed of scenarios where they were. He racked his brain for ideas of what to do. But this was not an easy problem to fix, or else it would've been solved already.

All that was left to do, it seemed, was to enjoy this last day. He rose up. He'd try to find Ariel, and spend it with her.

...

"Rider!"

Flynn's heart jumped up in his throat, and not just due to surprise. Oh, he knew that voice.

The group was descending down the mountain, silent in their defeat. What use was there now? There was no time to think of another plan - Aurora's curse was tomorrow. They didn't even know about Ariel's. Maleficent had moved, or gone into hiding, or disappeared entirely. She didn't need to fight them - she defeated them already. It was hopeless. They'd been walking for perhaps twenty minutes, just passing the halfway point, which was shrouded in trees.

"Did someone say your name?" Rapunzel looked up at Flynn, confused.

"Yes," Flynn said, instinctually stepping in front of her. "Everyone, get together.

The Stabbington brothers presented themselves, emerging into the setting sunlight. "Rider...Rider...this isn't quite the plan we discussed?"

Flynn froze.

"Flynn, do you know these people?" Rapunzel said, fear seeping into her voice.

Philip drew his sword. "We don't want any trouble. But we're not afraid to get into it either."

"Oh, he's funny." one Stabbington brother said.

"Yeah, though I didn't realize you needed a comedy troupe to pull off a simple mission." the other added.

"You're both idiots. Let's go." Belle huffed, grabbing Adam's hand.

"Hey, now." one of them reached out his hand to grab her arm.

"Let go of her!" Adam snapped, pushing him back.

He staggered back an exaggerated few steps. "Rider, call your man off. You know why you're here?"

"Flynn, what are they talking about?" Rapunzel turned to him.

"Oh, you didn't tell her? He's part of our group."

"The weakest part, admittedly."

"But he swore he'd be able to do it." The brother said. "Kidnap you, we mean."

"What?" Rapunzel balked.

"That's why I was there." Flynn said quickly. "Why Flynn was. I worked with them, I agreed, I've never done anything like it before. I'll never do anything like it since. But once I saw you - I couldn't do it. I promise, I never wanted to hurt _you_."

Rapunzel took a step back from him. He wanted nothing more but to reach out to her, but knew it was not a good idea.

"He's a thief, princess. His word's no good. The name Rider means nothing."

"And now…" you're coming with us." One of the brothers swept down and grabbed her.

"No!" Flynn exclaimed, grabbing his knife.

Philip turned on the other brother and swung his sword on him. The brother grabbed his own sword and blocked it. Belle turned as well, running at him with the knife. The brother blocked Philip's swing, kicked him in the stomach and knocked him to the ground, and then blocked Belle. With a forceful swing, he knocked her knife from her hand and sliced through her palm. She cried out, and Ariel rushed in to guard her and spar against him.

Adam and Flynn cornered the other brother, weapons drawn, but afraid to fight him in case they accidently hurt Rapunzel.

"That's what I thought" the brother smiled.

The other brother was backed up against the edge as Ariel swang aimlessly at him. Philip was back up, and Belle switched fighting hands.

"We came here for a fight!" Belle insisted. "We're not going to back off from this!" She lunged at him with her knife and he took a step back to brace his own swing, but stepped off the ledge, tumbling off.

"Brother!" the other Stabbington yelled.

With this distraction, Rapunzel kicked him in the stomach and he dropped her. Flynn swung at him, slicing down his arm. The brother screamed.

"We can kill you now, or you can join your brother." Flynn said darkly.

Without a second thought, the Stabbington brother leapt off the cliff, to meet his mutual doom.

Breathing heavily and shaking, the group stood, surveying the space around themselves. They stood in the wreckage of their day and looked at each other, but looked at how Rapunzel was looking at Flynn.

"Rapunzel…" he said, softly. "I'm so, so sorry."

Rapunzel blinked back tears and looked up at the sky. "Eugene," she breathed. "Come here. You're bleeding."

Without thinking, she wrapped her hair around his wound and began to sing. Her hair glowed and in seconds, he was healed.

"Wait, what?" Ariel rushed up and examined his wound. "Since when can you heal people that aren't blood?"

"Oh!" Rapunzel exclaimed. "I hadn't even thought, he was just hurt - Belle! Come here."

Belle, holding her bleeding hand, walked over. Rapunzel wrapped her hair around Belle's hand and sang. By the end of her song, Belle's hand was healed.

"Have you gotten...more powerful, somehow?" Ariel asked. "We've tried this on other people, when you were younger. You were never able to fix castle hands or anything."

"I know." Rapunzel mumbled. "Philip, here, let me help you."

Philip, holding his side, walked over. Rapunzel wrapped her hair around his torso and Philip closed his eyes, waiting to be healed.

"Better?" Rapunzel said excitedly.

Philip went to stand up straighter, but winced. "No, I don't think it worked on me." he chuckled a little. "I guess I'll have to heal the old fashioned way."

"I'm sorry." Rapunzel said.

"Don't apologize." Philip said sincerely. "Thank you for trying."

"I just wish I knew what made the difference." Rapunzel huffed. "I'm glad it works on more people, believe me, but if I knew what was causing it, then maybe I could, I don't know, channel it more."

"Well, I don't mean to be presumptuous." Belle flushed, flexing her fixed hand. "But you love _us_."


	6. Chapter 6

Adam invited Belle back to the shop, and she sat, wrapped in a blanket, on his bed. It wasn't lost on her that she sat in his office, the place he'd initially wanted her to stay out of more than anything, but the stress was too high for her to want to bring it up. It was still a soft moment.

"Here." he said gently, handing her a cup of tea.

Her heart swelled at his gentle kindness towards her - they'd faced the same defeat today, but his concern was only for her well-being.

"Thank you." she took a sip.

"I know how you're feeling." Adam said, sitting next to her. She sunk into him and sighed. "I wish it had worked too. I know it's worse for you, since you're much closer with the princesses. But I am sorry."

"It's just...I was so sure. It made sense. It was powerful, it was logical, and they hadn't done anything like it before."

"It's not so much that the fairy tales didn't work - it's that we weren't given the opportunity to actually try." Adam said.

"That doesn't fix anything though." Belle sighed. "Does it make me stupid if I was excited to go up there?"

"I don't think there's a force in this universe powerful enough to make you stupid." Adam smiled.

"I've wanted excitement and adventure my whole life, and this felt like it was finally a chance for that to happen. I knew it was risky and dangerous, but it was also important. My heart was pounding walking up that mountain, and it was only partially due to nerves."

"Then I'm sure it was only more disappointment when we couldn't do anything."

"Well, yes it was disappointing. I wanted things to be better for them." Belle said. "But also the high stakes and the risk just wasn't...it wasn't me. I want adventure, I want excitement, but not like that."

"Then, in what way?"

"I don't...I want _excitement_ , not danger. And I think they're more separable than a lot of people think. I don't want wolves chasing me through the woods, biting at my heels. I want exploring, and travelling, and reading new books." she laughed a little and shrugged. "When all this is settled and done with, I don't know how I'll possibly go back to just being a maid."

"Then don't."

"What?"

"Come work with me, as a partner. Sleep here instead. We certainly have the business. There's, well, enough space. It'll be cozy."

Belle giggled. Working in a bookstore...living with Adam. It sounded wonderful. Otherworldly, almost. She could see hazy fall mornings, up with the sun, bundled in a shawl, organizing books. He'd bring her a cup of tea, like he just had today.

"We could keep fixing up your old home." she said.

"We will!" he promised, smiling at her acceptance.

"Yes, let's do it!" Belle said, throwing her arms around him.

"When do we start?" Adam said, leaning in.

"Tomorrow. We just need today. We need to help our friends." Belle said.

"Well, they still have one more option - though we won't be able to help as well as if destruction had worked.."

"Of course." Belle mumbled, and flexed her healed hand again. "Love."

...

There were a few quick knocks at the door, and Rapunzel opened it. "Ariel, everything okay?" she paused. "Stupid question. But you know what I mean."

Ariel nodded, a little sadly. "I get it. But I have an idea that perhaps we didn't think about."

"What?"

"Well, we assumed that Maleficent had moved or evaporated, or something had happened that meant we wouldn't run into her."

"Right."

"What if we couldn't have run into her?"

"What do you mean?"

"Rapunzel," Ariel said, shifting her weight excitedly. "What if she died?"

"Wouldn't we have known?" Rapunzel said, mind running. Could they really be out of the woods? Was it really that easy?

"I don't see how - it's not like anyone goes up the Forbidden Mountain. She's not an immortal being, at least as far as I know. And she seems like the kind of person who would've wanted to rub that in if she was."

"That seems true enough." Rapunzel agreed.

"Belle and Adam had said that the two options to end a curse were love or destruction. If she's dead - isn't she destroyed? It's not that different than us killing her. Everything should be normal. I won't have to kill my true love, you can go freely again, Aurora isn't going to fall into an eternal slumber!" Ariel was clearly getting excited, grabbing Rapunzel's hands.

Rapunzel wanted to be excited; she wanted Ariel to be right. She wanted this to be over. But she couldn't help the logical holes springing to her mind. "But my hair - it still healed us yesterday."

"Well, healing hair is more of a gift that a curse. And you were able to heal more than just me and Aurora yesterday!"

"But we just assumed I could only heal blood. And I still wasn't able to fix Philip." Rapunzel said.

"Okay, well I don't know how all this works." Ariel conceded. "We're in uncharted territory. Maybe we keep some elements of the curses forever, maybe we got gifts and curses, maybe it just takes a while for the curse to fade completely. But maybe our problems...are solved."

"I wish there was a way we could know before the wedding." Rapunzel sighed.

"We could!" Ariel said excitedly, stepping into her room and opening her embroidery box.

"Wait, what are you doing?"

"You're the only one who can heal me if the curse is still active. So I'll give myself a cut - just a bitty one - and then we'll -!"

"No!" Rapunzel said, yanking the scissors away. "Are you crazy?"

"Well if it's not going to heal by itself then you can heal me!"

"Ariel, don't do this." Rapunzel shook her hands. "Don't hurt yourself. What if she did something else? I don't know the specifics and bounds of everything and I don't want you to be in any more danger-"

"Rapunzel-"

"Ariel! You've hurt yourself - accidentally, I know! - near constantly since you were born." Rapunzel said, voice exasperated and pleading. "I always worry about you - and Aurora! - and wonder that if the one time I'm gone or tucked away somewhere I can't get to you in time. I'm tired of seeing you hurt."

Ariel softened. "I'm sorry. I suppose I didn't think about that."

"It's not your fault, it's Maleficent's. I know. But sometimes it feels like you didn't worry about your safety as much since you know I can always fix it."

"I'm sorry, Rapunzel." Ariel said, hugging her. Rapunzel hugged her back. "I know I didn't think ahead as much as I should've. I didn't mean to take advantage of you, honest."

"I know you didn't."

"I'll be more careful from now on. I mean it." Ariel nodded.

Rapunzel smiled. "Hopefully it won't matter. Hopefully you're right, and Maleficent is just dead."

"What can we do while we wait?"

"We just have to wait. Aurora's curse is supposed to come to fruition today. If she doesn't fall into the slumber then I guess...I guess we really are free."

...

Eric didn't want this. He'd already done everything he could to tell Ariel how he felt - too much, as it seems - and he was here to face his duty. This was it. The end of the line. He had been promised to Aurora, he knew what he was getting himself into when he boarded that boat, and he should've maybe pushed back harder to tried to negotiate when he was younger. But he didn't. He accepted his charge and now it was time to see it through.

He stood with his hands behind his back, watching the doors of the chapel and hoping that somehow, a different girl would walk through the door. But of course such a thing was not possible, and Aurora arrived. The doors were pulled open to reveal her, in a delicate and lacey white gown with a large veil. He could not see her expression.

She looked lovely, she was lovely, she was a very kind and dreamy girl. This wasn't a curse in the objective sense. Anyone would be lucky to marry her. Anyone but Eric.

Eric gave her a thin smile as she stepped up and she nodded at him. The priest opened his book, and began. Eric tuned out of the whole ceremony, which was not how he had hoped to act on his wedding day, but such was the cruelty of reality. He let his eyes wander over the crowd, trying not to stare at Ariel, but unable to stop himself.

He dreamed that she was up here instead, holding his hands and biting her lip.

He dreamed that he would step down from the altar, leave all responsibilities behind, and take her hand. They'd run out the chapel and into the daylight, down to the beach and jump into the ocean.

He dreamed that he hadn't come here, hadn't met Aurora at all. But Ariel had been sent over to forge an alliance with their nations; she had been the one to take those first steps off the boat.

"Do, you, Prince Eric-"

Eric snapped back into reality, seconds before the whole wedding was brought to a crashing halt by a burst of green light, and a sickening cackle. From the fire and heat Maleficent appeared. The congregation screamed and ran to the sides and the doors, only to find that they had been locked. They huddled together, shielding their children and turning their faces. The princesses, Eric, and Philip stood to attention, curling their fists and laying their hands on their weapons, in preparation.

"Oh, please, there's no need for that." Maleficent rolled her eyes at Philip's wielding of a sword. "Like that pitful thing could defeat _me_."

Ariel felt gutted. Her small bit of hope was purged from her. Of course it couldn't be so easy that Maleficent had just died. She'd sustained herself on bile and bitterness and today she was set to feast. She couldn't resist their suffering - she wanted to watch Aurora fall into her sleep. She'd probably want to watch Ariel stab Eric. Ariel curled her firsts wants to run up and strike Maleficent. But she knew it wouldn't work.

Maleficent would come to each of them as she watched their curses play out. Ariel felt her heart hammering. This was all bad enough to live through, but to perform? It was disgusting.

"Don't worry, I understand speeches are saved for the toasts after the ceremony." Maleficent smiled wickedly. She turned to look at Aurora.

"No-!" Philip cried.

But it was too late. Maleficent struck her staff upon the crowd and Aurora fell to the ground in a sleep-like death. Philip ran to her, flipping her over and getting her veil off her face. Eric sunk down to his knees and looked at her - ashen-faced, shallowly breathing.

"Move, move!" Queen Leah grabbed her daughter, stifling tears. "Guards!"

Maleficent cackled and with a simple movement of her arms, she was gone. Watching still, but out of sight.

"Carry her upstairs." King Stephen ordered. "Get her out of here!"

...

Eric felt his heart beating in his chest for all the wrong reasons. He was led by the family and some guards, up to where Aurora had been put to rest. Noblemen tried to follow, and Queen Leah tried to shoo them away to the best of her ability, but she was very preoccupied and a few followed. She had had time - Aurora's whole life! - to prepare for seeing her daughter in this state, but no amount of time would be enough. Her lip quivered as she held back tears, but pressed on.

Aurora was draped over a lounge and lightly covered with a blanket. She was breathing, her chest lightly rising and falling, but her eyes were closed and she was otherwise motionless.

"Is she cold?" Eric asked, his thoughts unintentionally flashing back to when Ariel lost all that blood.

"A little." Queen Leah said. "Go, please."

Eric took a deep breath as he walked over and knelt beside her. He had to save her; he was the only one. He stooped down and kissed her, standing up and then waited.

And waited.

They all stood, twelve people in this small room, waiting for Aurora to open her eyes and fling her arms around her almost-husband. But she didn't.

"Give her space!" King Stephan ordered, waving back the noblemen and his own family. "She probably needs air, or-"

"Did you do something...wrong?" Queen Leah asked, looking at Eric.

"No, I don't think so?" Eric said, looking down at her. She was just as still as before. "I kissed her, wasn't that what was going to break the spell?"

"Maybe she just needs time?" Rapunzel offered.

"Maybe Maleficent lied?" King Stephen said, dejected. "Oh, my child!" he rushed to her side and dropped down, softly shaking her shoulder. "Please, honey, please wake up!"

Queen Leah rushed to meet her husband and Aurora, taking her daughter's face in her hands. "Aurora, Aurora, honey? Darling, please come back to us! Just move a little, just open your eyes! Anything!"

Rapunzel balled up her skirt in her hands, fighting the anxiety in her. She knew Aurora didn't love Eric - she had seen it in the journal. But how Aurora felt wasn't supposed to matter. She could be indifferent to Eric, or even hate him. As long as he felt true love for her, the spell was supposed to be broken. They had figured this out long ago, mulling over the spell - long before that had ever even tried to fix it.

But, perhaps, Eric didn't love Aurora. He hadn't known her very long, and they hadn't spent a lot of time together - Aurora had filled her journal with activities with Philip, time with Philip - she hardly even mentioned Eric in her daily recounts, and they were not exactly emotion-filled sentiments. If she had not developed feelings for him, perhaps he didn't love her as well. Rapunzel knew it'd be embarrassing to say, but she had to do anything, try anything, to get Aurora to wake back up again.

"Do you love her?" she asked, looking only at Eric, hoping he understood that she was not accusing him, but asking for an honest response.

Eric did not look away from Rapunzel, afraid to give himself away before he even spoke. "No."

"What?" Queen Leah rose up softly, meeting Eric's eyes. "What did you say?"

"It's not on purpose. She's a lovely girl." his eyes flicked away from Leah's for only a second. "But I don't love her."

Queen Leah wheeled around to see Ariel with her hand on her chest. She turned back to Eric, fire in her eyes. "You knew the stakes when you came here, didn't you? You knew - from day one! - that all my daughters had curses on them, and you knew what your purpose was in coming here! You are betrothed to Aurora, you were set - this day! - to marry Aurora, you were to break Aurora's curse, and now you stand there, and you have the audacity to say now that _you don't love her_?"

"I'm sorry, I stayed because I thought I could help!" Eric insisted. "I thought that I would be able to undo all of this, I didn't realize-"

"It doesn't matter what you didn't realize, what are we supposed to do now?" King Stephan sprung to his feet. "How is anyone supposed to fall in love with my daughter now that she's in a coma? She'll never wake up!"

"How could you not fall in love with her? You had no chance to form a prejudice against her, we've brought her up to be kind and wonderful and sweet and still you sneak off with my youngest, you almost get her killed too! Are you trying to end all my daughters? Are you set to destroy us?"

"I didn't mean to do any of this, I didn't have a choice! I love Ariel-"

Queen Leah screamed, clamping her hands over her mouth. "No, no, you can't have said that!"

"You've ruined everything!" King Stephan insisted. "Ariel's curse - you have three days! And then she will have to take a life! You've put Aurora in a coma, you've allowed injuries to come to Ariel that almost prevented Rapunzel from saving her, and now Ariel will have to play through her curse!"

"Daddy, stop!" Ariel ran up and got between them. "I knew, I already knew." she grabbed his arm and yanked him back.

"What?" King Stephen looked down in disbelief. "When did he tell you? When is the curse coming true?"

Ariel bit her lip. "Tonight. I told him everything. He stayed - to try and help Aurora. If we'd known…" she looked down at her sleeping sister, and up at Eric. "Oh, if we'd known. I'm sorry, I wasn't able to stop him."

"Why…" King Stephen looked down at them, words failing him.

"Daddy, I love him."

"Ariel…" King Stephen sighed. "It isn't enough."

Heaving a sob, Ariel broke from the group and ran off, needing some time alone.

"Ariel-" Queen Leah started.

"No. Let her go." King Stephen shook his head. "Cornering her won't do anything now."

...

The sun was setting and she knew the time was coming. Ariel couldn't bear to give Eric any more pain than she knew she was about to inflict on him. She needed to be away; she needed to be alone. She stood in the most empty room of the castle - down in the basement. It had been used for storage at one point, but was purposeless now. There were no windows, there was one door, the walls were stone. She looked into the unlit fireplace and shuttered a little. No one could get in without her being able to tell.

The sun was setting, on the third day. Ariel had wondered for years - nearly her whole life - what this moment would be like. In her times of greatest optimism she assumed it would never come. But such dreams, like so many of her other hopes, were futile. There was no sense in dwelling on her errors.

Ariel knew she was outmatched. She'd seen with her own two eyes what Maleficent did to her sister just this morning! But that didn't mean she wasn't going to try and fight. If she could stay down here, and avoid Eric, maybe that would buy enough time - for Aurora to wake up, for Eric to get away, for someone to defeat Maleficent. Each of these was less likely that the last, but each of them was possibly. She had to hope. She had to try.

Ariel sunk down to a table, resting her head upon her arms and sobbing. An eerie feeling came over her, and she stopped crying, despite feeling the pain in her heart. All the warmth was sucked out of the room but she did not shiver, instead rising slowly. Ariel felt as though there was a string behind her bellybutton, tugging her gently towards the empty fireplace.

But, lo! There, at the back of the fireplace, was a green flame. It was an orb and was suspended without explanation. Ariel, always inquisitive and curious, felt no inclination to ask what it was. She followed it, in a foggy state of mind, aware of what she was doing but not why.

When she reached out for the flame, the bricks of the fireplace moved, and revealed a long, dimly lit hallway. Following the orb, curious and unwilling at the same time, Ariel stepped into the hallway, and was led towards her fate.

...

Aurora lay out peacefully, hands folded, hair curling towards the ground. She was breathing, alive technically. The mood in the castle was so unnerved and somber it didn't even feel quite like that was achieved. Queen Leah, it hopes to offer little bits of comfort and cheer, had brought up flowers and laid them around Aurora, hoping it would be a way to will her to awaken before they wilted.

Everyone was downstairs, talking and planning and scheming. There had to be a way to undo this.

"It's because you weren't married!" King Stephen said, clinging to the idea that this curse was not doomed to come true from the start. He grabbed Eric's arms. "We were minutes away, boy!"

"I'm sorry!"

Queen Leah shook her head. "Stephen, no. The one to break her curse is her true love, not her husband. We assumed they were one and the same."

"They should've been." King Stephen snarled.

"I know." Eric looked down. "I'm sorry to have failed you in this way. I promise my intentions were always honorable, though I know that's of little comfort to you now."

King Stephen glared and went to the window.

Philip sat, not speaking. Rapunzel, for comfort, had tucked herself into him. He placed an arm around her and squeezed. She sniffled, crying. His heart went out for her, for the family, for Aurora. He didn't have the words to describe how much he wished that he'd been able to defeat Maleficent before this whole terrible day had even happened.

 _The one to break her curse is her true love, not her husband._

Philip pulled this phrase apart as the group continued speaking. He loved Aurora, he knew that. And there was an assumption that all that mattered was that Aurora's savior love her, not that she loves him. But the family had already made a lot of incorrect, harmful assumptions. Maybe it did. Maybe, if Aurora wasn't in love with anybody, she wouldn't wake up at all. The thought alone felt like a knife in his side.

"This is all so messed up." Rapunzel said, dragging her sleeve across her eyes.

Philip laughed without humor. "I agree."

Rapunzel sat up, sliding out of his arm, and spoke quietly. "If I told you something, would you believe me?"

"Is it true?"

"Yes. I promise." Rapunzel nodded.

"Well, I trust you." Philip said. "So, yes."

"I did something I shouldn't have." Rapunzel looked down. "I read Aurora's diary."

Philip felt his heart speed up. Why was she telling him this? Did it have to do with him?

"I didn't mean any harm by it, genuinely. She just doesn't tell us a lot about herself - tell anyone, really - and I really needed to know what she was thinking. I thought it might help all of this." Rapunzel gestured around.

"I know you didn't mean harm. Did you find what you needed to?"

"Well, upstairs, when Eric's kiss didn't work, I asked if he loved her. But I already knew the answer - they never really spent time together, especially if they had an option not to. She didn't act funny around him, or care really about anything he said, and he spent most of his time with Ariel, anyway."

Philip grimaced a bit at this.

"But you know who she did talk a lot about?"

"Who?"

"You."

Philip sat back a little. He had hoped, and wondered, and prayed he wasn't projecting feelings onto a girl who didn't share them. But perhaps...she really did love him. Perhaps-"

Philip looked over to the still discussing group, and then back at Rapunzel. "Do you-"

"They won't notice you're gone."

Philip nodded, smiling, and hopped up and out of the room.

…

Eric excused himself from the conversation and stepped outside, taking a deep breath. The sun was nearly set, and while he was aware there was a mark on his head, he knew he'd gain nothing from running from it. He'd tried already to suppress his feelings and reconfigure his responsibilities, but he was as much a part of this curse as the princesses. Had been, ever since his parents accepted the betrothal arrangement.

But he was in love, and he was not shaken. Maleficent was mortal, and arrogant, and the obstacle in the way of getting the girl he loved. Let Maleficent try, let her come. Eric would meet her when she did.

He stepped into an empty room, leaving the door wide open. He sighed, and looked out a window at the great expanses of ocean, still pink and yellow with the setting sun. If this was to be his last day on earth, let him at least have a lovely view.

…

"I'm going to try and find Ariel." Rapunzel said, nodding and stepping out of the room.

"Ariel!" Queen Leah shot to attention. "Isn't it time?"

"That's why I'm trying to find her!"

"We'll split up." Rapunzel nodded.

"This is too much for one day." King Stephen said angrily.

"I know, I know." Queen Leah placated. "We'll deal with this. Tomorrow will be better.

"It can't be worse."

Rapunzel headed out, searching the ground floor. She looked in rooms and closed the doors once she settled that Ariel was not in them. She opened windows and peered out to see if Ariel was on the grounds.

"Punzie!"

"Huh?" she said, turning around. "Eugene!"

"Step back." he said, pulling himself up the ledge and hopping into the castle.

"You know, you don't have to keep sneaking into the castle. I put you on the admitted list days ago." Rapunzel said.

"Yeah, well, this is more fun. I'll keep that in mind if I get into a bind, though."

"We're in one now." Rapunzel said, tugging his hand. "It's sunset. Ariel's curse is up."

"Oh, shit."

"And we don't know where she is."

"Oh, _shit_."

…

Philip stepped up, silently, calmly, and looked at Aurora, laid out in the room of flowers. He took a deep breath and stooped to a knee beside her.

"I wish I could've done this sooner." he said. "Weeks ago, really. I hope it's enough now." he leaned down and placed a kiss to his lips, pulling back and holding his breath.

A soft pink crept across Aurora's cheeks and she took a deep breath, getting oxygen into active lungs again. Tears sprang to Aurora's eyes as soon as she opened them; a sure sign of life. "Oh, it's you!" she exclaimed, pulling Philip back down for another kiss.

…

Ariel was led up the stairs to another hall. It was empty, and she focused on nothing but the green orb. It was enchanting, hypnotizing, and it felt hyperreal. That orb was the most important thing in the universe.

The orb pulsed, glowing so bright that Ariel staggered backwards a step. From the orb came a dagger, which levitated in front of her. Ariel let her arm drift up gently and grasped it loosely, looking at the orb the whole time. She followed still, and stood in the doorway. Eric looked out the window, wrapped in night. There were no candles, there was no fire.

The orb dissolved, and Maleficent appeared in the shadows, grinning wickedly. "Go, my pet." she said, her voice low and forceful. "Fulfill your curse."

"Ariel!-" Eric said, spinning around.

Ariel raised the knife and turned sharply, plunging the dagger into Maleficent.

Maleficent screamed and recoiled, dissolving into the ground. The room flashed hot and Ariel dropped the dagger, staggering back and coming fully to her senses. Eric was to her in a second, wrapping an arm around her waist and supporting her as she fell back.

"I couldn't do it!" she exclaimed, shaking her head. "Everything was foggy and confusing and I knew what she wanted - I knew it! - but I couldn't stab you." she looked up at him. "Because I love you."

Eric sunk down to the ground with her, pulling her into his arms and sighing. He hugged her as tightly as possible, as the fear that this was all a trick or an illusion disappeared. The dagger glinted in the moonlight, and Maleficent left a stain.

...

Queen Leah gasped, laying a hand on her heart as tears came to her eyes. "Ariel!" she said, running up the steps and pulling her youngest daughter into her arms. "We were so worried! And-" she looked at Eric, who had been walking her down on his arm. "How did you-? What did you-?"

"She overcame the curse." Eric said. "Maleficent made her a knife to stab me with, but she turned it on Maleficent instead."

King Stephen had run up the stairs as well, and cupped his daughter's face. "You really did it, love? You defeated Maleficent?"

"I did!" Ariel said excitedly. "She's dead; it's over!"

"How did you possibly find the strength to do such a thing? She's - she _was_ \- the most powerful being in the land!"

Ariel bit her lip and looked back at Eric, taking his hand. "I love him."

King Stephen and Queen Leah looked at each other.

"I really do love her, too." Eric added.

The king and queen nodded, and pulled both Eric and Ariel into a hug.

"Well!" Queen Leah joked, wiping a tear from her eye. "It seems you were destined to be a part of this family somehow."

"We must go to Aurora." King Stephen nodded.

"And find Rapunzel!"

"Mother! Father!"

The whole group looked up to see Aurora descending the stairs, Philips hand in hers.

"Sweetie!" Queen Leah exclaimed, and everyone ran up.

"Are you okay?"

"What happened?"

"It was beautiful." Aurora sighed. "I woke up, in a room full of flowers, and the man I _really_ love had kissed me awake."

King Stephen pulled Philip into a hug. "Thank you." he said.

"Rapunzel!" Ariel yelled, running down the stairs. "Rapunzel!"

"She's here!"

Ariel halted and looked behind her. The rest of their family was following. She picked up her skirts and ran towards the voice. Rapunzel also ran towards them.

"Ariel, there you are!" Rapunzel said, throwing her arms around her sister. She gasped "Aurora, you're awake!"

"It's over!" Ariel said, flinging her arms around Rapunzel.

"What?" Rapunzel staggered.

Aurora came and joined the hug. "Philip woke me up. Ariel killed Maleficent. It's over. We're free."

"I can't begin to say how much I've wanted to hear those words." Rapunzel sniffled.

"Who is this?" Queen Leah asked, gesturing to Eugene.

With confidence, Rapunzel said. "This is Eugene."

"Where did you - ?"

"It's a bit of a story." Rapunzel flushed. "But he's my friend. We can trust him. I'm glad he's here for this."

"Well, then come here!" Queen Leah said, hugging Eugene tight. She let him go, and King Stephen hugged him as well.

Eugene knew _none_ of his buddies down at the pub would've ever believed Flynn Rider, notorious criminal, would be getting hugged by the king and queen. But they didn't know about the kind of life Eugene lived. They didn't know he was in love with a princess.

"Rapunzel." Eugene said, walking over and pushing Rapunzel's hair behind her ears. "You've given up so much all these years to take care of your sisters. It's over now. What do _you_ want?

Rapunzel wanted a lot of things. She wanted to go outside. She wanted to see more lanterns. She wanted to travel. She wanted to swim. She wanted to go on long trips, and not come back for weeks. And all these things would come, in the future.

"I want...I want to cut my hair." Rapunzel said.

Flynn nodded, smiled, and reached into his boot. "Oh, I don't have my knife." he furrowed his brow.

"Oh! Here." Ariel said, pulling the dagger out of her pocket. "Seems a suitable way to finish the curse.

Rapunzel looked at the dagger, feeling the weight of its promise in her hand. "Ariel, do your test first. I want to be sure."

Ariel nodded, and made a little cut with the knife on the back of her hand. She bled, but the blood clotted and scabbed over in a few minutes. "I healed!" she smiled.

Beaming, glowing, nearly bouncing, completely free, Rapunzel took the dagger back. With a deep breath, she handed it to Eugene.

He pulled her hair back gently, "How short?"

"Short." Rapunzel smiled. I'm tired of the weight.

With a knowing smile, he sliced the dagger through and her hair fell all around her. What was left bounced up into a bob, and Rapunzel threw her arms around him.

"Come on," Queen Leah said happily. "Let's go find a place to sit. Figure out everything that happened."

"Get some food!" Ariel said.

The family moved together, feeling lighter and freer than they had in eighteen years. There was no talk of the burdens of the past, only joys of the present and anticipation of the future. There would be time for everything. There would be time for romance, and friendship, and the beautiful ways in which they overlap. They had their whole lives ahead of them now. Everyone was too tired to sleep, too excited to seperate.

Rapunzel sent for Belle, who was spending one of her last nights in the castle before moving in with Adam and working in the bookshop. She joined them, as Rapunzel was far too excited to keep the news until the morning. Belle didn't mind the intrusion, especially once they'd raided the kitchen.

They raised glasses for success, for bravery, and for the triumph over evil. For true love conquers all!


End file.
